There For You
by ChocolateChip03
Summary: This is my take on what happens in Season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This takes place after The Girl in the Flower Dress and Ward is not Hydra. Some things in this will be directly from the show, but it will have my own twists and turns to it. First AOS fanfic so please bear with me. Definitely Skyeward with possible hints of Fitzsimmons and Philinda!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi everyone! This is my first attempt at an AOS fanfiction so please bear with me. This is a Skyeward fanfic, the story takes place in Season 1, and Ward does not betray everyone! I know that the show has made a lot of progress, but to be very honest, I absolutely loved the beginning of the first season when Ward was S.H.I.E.L.D. and not HYDRA! Anyways, this takes place after The Girl in the Flower Dress. Please REVIEW and let me know how you like it! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But it would be so cool if I did! :)**

It had been three weeks since the whole Miles incident and Skye was desperately trying to convince the team that she was truly sorry about what happened. The first week, practically everyone ignored her, except Fitzsimmons who only said a few things here and there. Coulson was always locked away in his office doing paperwork and other official things that Skye didn't particularly care for. May just pretended she was not there and stayed in the cockpit mostly. Ward however, well he was a different case. He hadn't really made it clear on whether or not he wanted to continue training her so Skye just stayed out of his way. But whenever she entered a room that he was in, the hard look in his eyes and his fierce glare made her want to curl up into a ball and roll away.

The second week, she went around and apologized individually to each of the team members. Fitzsimmons, after Skye had told them her real reason for coming onto the Bus, were actually very understanding and began talking to her more often. They were still a bit wary around her, but it was much better than before. Coulson did not forgive her instantly and she still had to wear the silver, monitoring bracelet around her wrist, but he understood her need to find out about her past and her parents. In fact, he even promised to look into the redacted file, as his clearance level would give him access to such documents and information. May's reaction, well sort of reaction, was simply a softer look in her eyes and a nod. It was Ward's reaction that Skye didn't really want to see. She was already scared of her SO before, but now she was absolutely terrified. _"Skye, focus! Don't chicken out now!"_ Skye finally made her decision and made her way down to the lab where she hoped Fitzsimmons would help her out slightly. When she entered the cargo bay, she was glad to see that Ward was nowhere in sight. She quickly made her way into the lab.

"Hey guys, do you mind if I ask you for some help?" Skye asked shyly.

"Of course not! What can we help you with Skye?" Simmons asked sweetly. Fitz also stopped what he was doing and moved closer to hear what Skye had to say.

"Well, you know that Ward isn't talking to me and I really need to fix that. Do you think you guys could lure him down here while I hide in here somewhere and then make and excuse and leave, locking the lab doors with me and him inside so that I can talk to him without him walking away every time he sees me?"

The two scientists shared a look before turning back to Skye.

"Absolutely" came the enthusiastic reply.

"Thank you guys!"

"No problem. I'll just tell him to come down and check out the new prototype for the Night-Night Gun and then we will leave, locking him inside. You can hide in the utility closet right around back until then." Fitz said, a goofy grin on his face.

The trio stopped talking as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"That's probably him. Go hide!" Simmons said, quickly ushering her into the closet before resuming her former position. Surely enough, Ward came down the stairs, hands wrapped, ready to go a few rounds with the heavy bag.

"Hey Ward, before you start beating the crap out of that bag, come check out the latest prototype for the Night-Night Gun!" Fitz said. Ward made his way into the lab and Simmons rushed out, muttering something incomprehensible under her breath.

"FITZ! Come help me out with this real quick!" Simmons yelled at the top of the stairs.

"Coming!" Fitz rushed out with a tablet in his hand and quickly locked the lab doors before making is way upstairs.

Skye peeped out of the closet and saw only Ward in the lab and took a deep breath. _"Well, it's now or never."_ She made her way out of the closet and walked up to Ward. He looked up when her heard her approach and put the Night-Night Gun back on the table and walked towards the door. He pressed the button to open it but found it was locked.

"FITZ! You open this door right now!" Ward yelled.

"Ward, can we please talk?" Skye asked softly.

"Dammit Fitz! Open this door!" Ward yelled again.

"Ward, I just need a minute to talk to you without you walking away from me every time I come near you. Just one minute and then I'll be out of your hair."

"Talk" came the hard reply.

"I know that I betrayed the team by contacting Miles and I am extremely sorry for that. But along with that, I think you should know about why I actually came onto the Bus in the first place. I grew up in an orphanage and spent most of my life going from foster home to foster home. I never knew who I really was. My name's not even mine. I just gave myself this name because for me, it symbolizes freedom, something I never had growing up. The name they gave me at the orphanage was Mary Sue Poots. Seriously, it's like a mix between a name for an old lady and a bathroom trip gone wrong. Anyways, before I left the orphanage when I turned 17, I asked the nuns about any information that they had on me, anything at all and one of them told me about a file that had information about me and my parents on it. I was interested in computers since I was young so it didn't take long for me to stumble upon a redacted S.H.I.E.L.D. file. That file is the only bit of information I have on myself and the only thing that I have gotten from that file is my birthday. Nothing else. I came on the Bus to find out who I really am, who my parents were, and where I came from. I just wanted to know the truth about myself. I swear on my life that I did not know what Miles was planning and if I had known that my decision would have killed Scorch, then I swear I would have told you all in a heartbeat. I'm just so sorry about everything that has happened. I never meant for it to be this way. I was just so desperate for a family and to be loved for once that I did not even realize that my one stupid decision pretty much destroyed the family that I have here. I get that I made a huge mistake and I'm so terribly sorry. I know you hate me and you have every right to hate me…" Skye said, her voice choking up and silent tears streaming down her face.

"I don't hate you Skye." Ward interrupted quietly.

"What?" Skye asked in disbelief.

"Skye, you did make a mistake and now that I know the reason behind it, I can't really say that I blame you. Yes, your betrayal hurt us all, but this would have turned out much better if you had trusted us and told us all of this at the beginning."

"Yeah, I realize that now. It's just…well… I spent 17 years in an orphanage and nearly two dozen foster homes. That's caused me to have a really hard time at opening up to people and actually trusting them. I've trusted people too easily before and I've had to pay the price for it each time." Skye said dejectedly.

It was quiet for a few seconds.

"What you mean you had the pay the price for trusting people?" Ward asked.

Skye looked up at him in shock before quickly covering it up. That was one bit of information that she did not want anyone to know. It was in her past and she hoped and prayed that it would stay in her past.

"Um… I think my one-minute is up. I'll leave you to it then." Skye said, quickly making her way out of the lab.

Skye made her way to the door before a voice stopped her.

"Skye…" She turned around.

"I don't hate you. Believe me I really don't. I was just really hurt by your betrayal and angry at myself for trusting you so easily. I know I have been pretty harsh with you these past two weeks, but can you really blame me? But just know, that if you want to talk, I'm here for you." Ward said, a small smile on his face.

Skye smiled back and nodded, relieved and happy that she had her SO and friend back.

"Hey Rookie. Training tomorrow at 0700 sharp. Fifteen push-ups for every minute you are late." Ward said, back to his seriousness.

"Yes Sir!" Skye said, saluting him before unlocking the lab doors and making her way up to her bunk.

" _Maybe everything will turn out alright now!"_ Skye thought happily.

Meanwhile down in the lab, Ward was lost in his own thoughts. He knew that he was being a bit hard on his rookie but in his defense, she had betrayed them all on a mission; and given his past, he also had a hard time with trusting people and opening up to them.

But unbeknownst to his Rookie, he didn't hate her. It was the opposite, in fact. He had never felt this way before and it was honestly confusing him. He never had any serious relationships, and as a specialist, he didn't have the time or opportunity to actually have a steady relationship. But something about Skye was different. She was the complete opposite of him. She didn't like rules, discipline, and was a wild child. He felt something for her, something he had never felt with anyone else.

Ward continued staring off into space for a moment lost in his thoughts. Then he shook his head. _"It's probably just because I'm around her all the time. I mean we live on a plane for crying out loud."_ He cleared his mind and went out to the heavy bag, comfort rolling off of him as he released his tension with every punch.

 **AN: Well there you guys have it! Chapter 1! Please let me know how you like it, any advice would be wonderful, any scenes in particular you want to see, just review and let me know! Please REVIEW! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hi guys! Here is the second chapter. Hope you like it! Don't forget to REVIEW! Also, I have noticed that a lot of you guys are following and favorite this story. That is awesome… but I would also greatly appreciate it if you guys could also review. I am much more motivated to write when I see reviews! Without reviews, I feel like you guys don't really like this story. So please please please REVIEW! Love you guys! :)**

The tense atmosphere on the bus had died down quite a bit. Skye was back to her sarcastic, funny, and annoying self. She and Ward continued their early morning training sessions, this time with Skye paying much closer attention to what Ward was saying. Fitzsimmons and Skye have been spending much more time together, bonding almost like siblings. Skye began teaching Fitz the basics of hacking past firewalls, into less secure servers, and other computer things. Skye and Simmons practically became sisters. They would gossip about boys, paint their nails, and bake together. Then, three days ago, Skye and Simmons volunteered to go shopping to restock on supplies and Ward was their involuntary companion.

Three days ago…

Today was a pretty easy going and relaxing day. They were currently in the Caribbean in a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. base refueling and fixing up the Bus. All in all, it was a pretty relaxing and easy-going day. That was until Agent Coulson called them to the living area.

"Okay guys, I just noticed that we are running low on food so I need you guys to run and restock on all of the necessities."

Simmons eagerly jumped up and volunteered herself and Skye to go shopping.

"It will be a great bonding exercise for the two of us." Simmons said, practically jumping up and down. Fitz shook his head at his partner's antics and Skye nodded in response.

"Sounds awesome! I'll go get ready." Skye said, jumping to her feet.

"Whoa…not so fast. You two can't possibly go by yourselves. We are in the middle of the Caribbean and last I checked, neither of you two are cleared to drive here." Coulson said, his stern face slowly coming on.

"So…what do we do?" Skye said, confused.

"Ward will drive the two of you." Coulson simply stated.

The look on Ward's face was absolutely priceless.

"Wait wait wait… why do I have to drive them? Why can't you or May drive them?" Ward said, hoping that he wouldn't have to spend hours with two shopaholic girls.

"I have a video conference with Director Fury and Agent Hill in an hour and May is staying on the plane to run diagnostics. You know about her need to make sure that this baby is in pristine condition when we take off." Coulson said, a small smile forming on his face.

"But…I…they…we…ah…" Ward tried to say something but couldn't put together anything coherent. Skye and Simmons laughed at his reaction, earning a glare from Ward. Fitz hid his laugh behind a cough and mumbled something about fixing Sleepy and raced off towards the lab.

"Well now that we have that settled, Skye and Simmons, you two have until sundown to do any necessary shopping and be back here. Ward, it's your job to make sure that they shop for what's necessary but also let them shop for any clothes, toiletries, and other girl things they may need." Coulson said before making his way back up to his office.

Skye and Simmons looked at each other and smiled, both excited for a day of shopping.

Skye jumped up enthusiastically. "Okay, let's make a list of everything we need for the Bus and what we want to shop for afterwards. We leave in 30 minutes." Skye said, looking at Ward.

Ward nodded and sulked away. _"I can't believe I'm babysitting those two ALL day."_

Precisely 30 minutes later, Skye and Simmons situated themselves in the SUV and Skye, being the impatient person she is, honked the horn until Ward finally appeared in the cargo hold.

"Hold your horse! I was getting dressed." Ward said irritably.

"Well, it's already 3pm and we only have until sundown so we have about five hours to shop. That's really not a lot of time so hurry up!" Simmons said in her perky British accent.

Ward sighed loudly before pulling out of the cargo hold.

* * *

A little over three hours later, Ward was ready to shoot both girls with a Night-Night gun, if Fitz had allowed him to bring one.

"Skye, how's this top? Too pink, too perky?" Simmons asked.

"Hmmm…I like the design but I think a pale green is more your style. Here try this one on." Skye said, tossing Simmons another shirt.

A few moments later, Skye emerged from the dressing room wearing a dress.

"How's this look?" She asked shyly.

Simmons widened her eyes in complete awe.

"Oh Skye, you look absolutely beautiful." Simmons said admiringly.

Ward felt his jaw drop as Skye came down the hall to show him the dress.

She was wearing a strapless black high-low dress with flowers bordering the edges of it, complete with a lace covering. Although it was a fairly simple dress with not much glitz and glam, Ward couldn't stop staring at her. She looked gorgeous.

"Well…what do you think?" Skye asked nervously.

"I…you…ah…well…" Ward took a second to regain his composure. "You look amazing Skye." He said with a soft smile. Skye beamed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You look absolutely stunning." Ward said, his cheeks turning a pale pink.

"Thanks." Skye said, also blushing profusely. She couldn't help it. Ever since she met Ward (when he kidnapped her from her van and threw a black bag over her head), she couldn't help but feel attracted towards him. She always brushed it off as a silly little crush, but couldn't help but think, _"He thinks I look stunning!"_ She felt giddy with excitement. She rushed back to Simmons and told her what he had said.

"Jemma, oh my gosh, I showed Ward the dress and he said I look _stunning_! Can you believe it? I mean, I didn't ever think that he would think that I look stunning. I'm usually his annoying and stubborn rookie who can't separate the safety release from the magazine release but oh my gosh he said I looked amazing! Do you think he likes me? I wonder of he likes…." Skye suddenly felt a hand over her mouth, stopping her never-ending rambling.

"Skye, take a breath. Now, you do look stunning in that dress. And you are a beautiful young woman. Now as for Ward liking you, I am almost certain he has feelings for you. I just don't think he has realized it himself yet. I mean, he's not really a social person so it may be hard for him to recognize his feelings of attraction. The real question is…do you like him?" Simmons asked.

Skye looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"Well I kinda do like him. I mean there's just something about his serious personality that kind of draws me to him. He's always watching out for us, kind of like a protector…I guess he makes me feel safe. I mean, growing up, I had no one looking out for me. Sure there were the nuns at St. Agnes and some of my foster parents, but mostly I was on my own. I never felt a sense of safety until I worked with Ward. It's like I feel connected to him in a way. And don't get me started on his body. Oh have you seen his abs…they are perfect. And his jaw and cheekbones…oh…you know I think that's why I have such a hard time staying focused when we are training. I mean, I'm surrounded by 200 pounds of sexy muscle and I'm supposed to learn the difference between the safety and magazine release?" Skye said, eyes twinkling at the thought of her attractive SO.

Just then a knock sounded at the door.

"Skye…Simmons…I think we should be heading back now. The sun is beginning to set and it's about a thirty minute drive back." Came Ward's voice through the door.

"Okay, be out in five." Skye said, hoping that he hadn't heard everything she had said.

Unknown to the hacker, Ward had heard everything she had said and couldn't stop the large smile spreading across his face. _"Skye likes me!"_ He sat down in the chair waiting for the girls to appear, still smiling like an idiot.

* * *

Five minutes later, they were all ready to go and made their way out to the car and back to the Bus.

After Ward pulled the car into the cargo hold, both Skye and Simmons got out and got all of their bags from the back while Ward grabbed the food they needed for the Bus. While Skye was grabbing her bags, she felt a small bite on her upper arm and instinctively swatted at it, shooing a mosquito away. She frowned at the mosquito bite but then grabbed her bags and made her way up the stairs.

Present Day…

Skye and Ward had finished their early morning training session and were settled on the couch watching Rush Hour, Skye thought it was hilarious and Ward enjoyed watching the different fighting techniques used. They were sitting side by side; Ward's arm slung half around Skye and half leaning on the couch. Skye was tucked into his side, leaning her head on his shoulder every now and then.

A while into the movie, Skye got up to get a drink of water. She had been getting a headache all day and it was getting progressively worse. She walked into the kitchenette and opened the fridge and reached down into the last shelf to get a bottle of water. As she was getting back up, she felt extremely light-headed and dizzy. Using the refrigerator door to keep her balance, she dropped the bottle in her hand and held her head. She opened her eyes and saw blurry shapes in front of her. The pounding in her head increased and then Skye's world went dark.

Ward was watching the movie, waiting for Skye to come back. He was watching Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan fight in the casino and saw Jackie Chan dangling from one of the beams on the ceiling when he heard a small _thump_ from the kitchen. Frowning, he got up and made his way over there.

"Skye? You okay?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.

He entered the kitchen and froze at the sight of Skye pale and unconscious on the kitchen floor.

"SKYE!"

Ward knelt down beside and grabbed her face his hands, letting out a small hiss at the heat radiating off of her.

"Skye…come on Rookie…wake up." Ward said, gently slapping her face, trying to wake her up. After a few moments, when she was still unresponsive, he picked her up and rushed down towards the lab.

"SIMMONS! I need some help here." Ward declared, panic evident in his voice as he entered the lab with an unconscious Skye in his arms.

"Oh dear, place her on the table. What happened?" Simmons said as she began taking Skye's vitals.

"We were watching a movie, she got up to get a drink, and the next thing I heard was a thump in the kitchen. I go to see what it is and I see her unconscious on the floor. I tried waking her up but she wouldn't respond."

Simmons nodded and took Skye's temperature.

"Oh my… 106 degrees. We need to bring her temperature down fast. Fitz go get me some ice packs. Ward, I need you to go start a bath with cool water. Not freezing cold, cool. Also get Agent May as I will need her help." Simmons instructed.

* * *

A few minutes later, Ward returned with May in a tow.

"What happened to Skye?" May asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"I think its dengue fever." Simmons said slowly. Ward and May looked at her in shock.

"May, I need you to help me get her into the bath tub so we can try and bring her temperature down." May nodded and Ward picked Skye up and carried her to the bathroom. He placed her on the closed toilet seat and exited the bathroom.

May and Simmons quickly stripped Skye of her t-shirt, jeans, and boots and placed her in the bathtub. After about 10 minutes, Simmons took her temperature and sighed in relief. "103 degrees. At least it's not at a lethal temperature anymore."

The two women pulled Skye out of the water and dried and dressed her in her pajamas. Simmons opened the door and gestured for Ward to come back in.

Ward came back and once again picked Skye up and took her back to her bunk.

"She will have a headache for quite a while, she may develop pain in her muscles and bones and may develop a rash. Right now, the best thing is for her to get some rest. Someone will need to stay with her incase her temperature increases or if she wakes up in pain." Simmons said, gently stroking Skye's hair, furious with herself for not helping Skye more.

"I'll stay with her." Ward said immediately.

"Okay. Take her temperature every hour and if it increases, then get some ice packs and place them around the back of her neck and under her arms. Come get me if she wakes up and is in pain. She will most likely need some pain medication to help with the muscle pain." Simmons said.

"Got it." Ward said, nodding his understanding. Everyone slowly filed out of Skye's bunk, leaving only Skye and Ward.

Ward gently grasped her limp hand in his and placed a soft kiss to her fingertips.

"Please be okay Rookie. I need you." He whispered, gently stroking Skye's hair with his other hand.

 **AN: Well here is Chapter 2! I hope you guys like it! I actually got this idea from the second episode of season 1 when the team is in Peru and Simmons swats a mosquito on Fitz's neck, stating that there is no treatment for dengue fever. I hoped you guys like this chapter and PLEASE REVIEW! Like I said before, those reviews motivate me to write more!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hi guys! Thank you so much for the reviews! I am so happy you guys like it. I will try to update as much as possible but I have midterms right now so it may be a while. Here is Chapter 3! Don't forget to REVIEW! :)**

 **Also, there is some medical information involved here, but I am no doctor so I apologize in advance for any medical discrepancies. I will try to make it as accurate as possible.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. But I wish I did! :) :) :)**

Ward had been watching Skye for about 6 hours now, well into the night. Her temperature had stayed down for the most part and she was still sound asleep. His eyes were starting to burn and as he was slowly starting to nod off to sleep, he heard a quiet whimper. His eyes jerked open and he looked at Skye, now conscious.

Skye's eyes fluttered for a moment before slowly opening.

A soft smile played on Ward's face.

"Hey Rookie." He said softly.

"Ward…" she rasped, her voice barely above a whisper. "What h-h-happ…ened?" Skye said, her voice cracking towards the end.

"We were watching a movie and then you decided to get some water remember that?" Ward asked gently.

Skye nodded.

"Well then I heard a noise from the kitchen and when I got there, I saw you passed out on the floor. I took you down to Simmons and after she examined you, she found out you have dengue fever." Ward said as he felt her forehead, frowning, as it felt hotter than before.

"Your fever is coming back. I'll be right back."

Ward came back a minute later with some icepacks in his arms. He gently raised Skye head and placed an ice pack around the back of her neck since she was too weak to do it herself.

"Wh-why are you h-here? I mean…why are you t-taking care of me?" Skye asked in a shaky voice.

Ward stopped what he was doing and looked at her. Her eyes were glazed over with pain and she kept on shivering even though she had a very high fever.

"Skye, I'm taking care of you because I care about you and I don't like it when you are in pain." Ward said softly. He was surprised at her when she asked why he was taking care of her. Did no one ever take care of her when she was sick before?

Ward was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Skye whimper in pain.

"Ward…h-hurts." Skye whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. She felt pain all over her body. It hurt to move, to talk, and even breathe. It was like there was a burning sensation in her muscles and bones. She moaned again in pain.

"Hey hey hey Skye, look at me…" Ward said, gently holding her face with his hands.

"I know you're in pain and I'll go get Simmons and be right back okay?" he asked gently.

Skye slowly nodded. Ward quietly slipped out of her bunk and made his way down three doors over to Simmons' bunk, knocking three times on the door. A moment later, Simmons opened the door, looking like she hadn't sleep at all.

"Is Skye awake? How is she feeling? Is she in any pain? How is her temperature? Does she have a fever?" Simmons started speaking rapidly.

"Hold on a second. Yes Skye is awake. She is in pain and her temperature has risen a bit." Simmons rushed towards Skye's bunk before Ward even had time to blink. He followed her and re-entered Skye's bunk to fins her fussing over Skye.

"Hey Skye, it's Jemma. I'm just going to take your vitals and see how much pain you're in." Simmons said. Skye nodded her head, clearly dazed.

Simmons began doing her thing while Ward stood off to the side of the bed, eyes on Skye. He saw her move slightly and wince in pain, making his heart clench. He _hated_ seeing her in any sort of pain. If he could switch spots with her, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"Ward, can you please go get some more blankets?" Simmons asked. Ward nodded and rushed off. He came back a few moments later with an armful of blankets and started tucking them around Skye when Simmons stopped him.

"Wait, one second Ward. Can you help me get Skye to sit up so I can give her some medicine to help with the pain?"

"Yeah." Ward made his way around to the other side of the bed and grasped the hacker's hand.

"Skye, I'm going to slowly sit you up so you can take some medicine okay? I'm sorry, but it's going to hurt but it will make you feel better okay?" Ward said gently, running one of his hands through her hair. Skye nodded slowly.

Ward sat down next to her and slowly and carefully propped her up, leaning her against him.

Skye had absolutely no strength in her body whatsoever and was grateful to lean on her SO for support. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as pain raced through her body when Ward picked her up. He eased her into a sitting position and Simmons handed her two pills and a glass of water. She popped the pills in her mouth and raised the glass of water to her mouth, her hand incredibly unsteady. Just when she thought she would drop the glass, Ward's large hand covered her own and helped raise it to her lips, allowing Skye to drink.

After she was done, Simmons took the glass and Ward helped her lay back down. He got up and grabbed some more blankets and tucked them around her while Simmons took her temperature again.

"Her temperature has dropped slightly which is good. Do you want to get some sleep while I watch her Ward?" Simmons asked, looking at the young man who refused to leave his rookie's side.

Ward shook his head. "No, I'll stay here. You should go and get some sleep."

"Alright, but wake me up if there is any change in her condition."

"Got it. Now go sleep." Ward said.

Simmons left Skye's bunk and Ward went back to his original position, sitting next to Skye and holding her hand.

"Ward…" came the soft voice of Skye.

"Yeah…"

"Thanks for taking care of me." She whispered before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

"I'll always take care of you Rookie." Ward said, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

It took about a week before Skye was beginning to feel like her normal self again. She still felt incredibly weak and could barely make it down the stairs before collapsing. But Ward was constantly by her side, always helping her up and down, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. Skye had told both him and Simmons that she was fine but after a scare two days ago, neither was taking a chance.

Two days ago…

Skye was still suffering from dengue fever; however, some of the symptoms had decreased, increasing their hopes for a quick recovery. That was short-lived however.

It was early in the morning when Skye woke up. She was still feeling like a truck ran over her and every inch of her body ached. But nevertheless, the stubborn hacker wanted to get out of bed. Ever since Simmons had diagnosed her with dengue fever, she had only been able to leave her bed to use the restroom and nothing else.

Her fever had broken the day before so Skye saw no problem in trying to get up. She slowly raised herself up and gently swung her legs over the side of the bed, pausing for a moment to let the dizziness at the sudden movement go away. She slowly stood up and made her way to the door, using the wall for support.

She exited her bunk and made her way over to the living area. It was still pretty early and usually, Fitzsimmons would be in the lab, Coulson would be in his office, May would be in the cockpit, and Ward would be down in the cargo bay having a one-on-one with the heavy bag. As she entered the living area, she felt the plane shake, startling her and nearly bringing her to her knees. She somehow managed to keep her balance and kept moving forward. A few moments later, just as she entered the living area, the plane shook again, this time harder, causing Skye to collapse and hit her head on the coffee table in the center.

Skye felt a sharp pain course through her head as she tried to remain conscious. She distantly heard someone calling her. She felt someone's hand on her face, gently patting her cheek before she plunged into darkness.

Ward was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee. It was early, but Fitzsimmons were already in the lab, tinkering with their sci-fi doohickeys. Coulson could be heard up in his office _"Was he pretending to be Captain America?"_ He could vaguely make out the words 'Red Skull', 'Agent Carter', and 'Hydra' from Coulson's…fangirliness. May was taking a shower, leaving the plane on autopilot. Skye was still asleep; trying to recover from dengue took a lot out of a person. Ward was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the coffee maker beep. Grabbing his mug, he began pouring out coffee, spilling some when the plane shook from turbulence.

"Dang it" he muttered, irritated that he spilled his beloved drink over the counter.

He grabbed some paper towels, cleaned up the mess, grabbed his mug, and made his way over to the living area. As he was turning the corner, the plane shook again and this time much harder. _"I should check on Skye."_ He entered the living area and saw Skye crumpled on the floor, a small trickle of blood oozing down her face from a cut on her forehead.

"SKYE!?" Ward yelled, panic evident in his voice. He raced over to her and knelt down by her side. He gently grasped her face in his hands and gently slapped her cheeks, trying to wake her up. Skye's eyes showed pain for a brief moment before her eyes closed and she went limp in his arms.

"Shit! Skye?" Ward gently shook her shoulders. At the same time, Fitzsimmons could be heard coming up the stairs, bickering about something.

"SIMMONS! Get over here!"Ward yelled, Skye's head now in his lap.

Simmons rushed into the living room and gasped at the sight of Skye unconscious on the floor. "What happened? What was she doing out of bed?" She asked as she began checking over Skye.

"I don't know and I don't know why she was out of bed. I just came out of the kitchen and she was unconscious on the floor. I think she hit her head on the table during the turbulence earlier." Ward said as he tried to wipe the blood away from Skye's face.

"Simmons, her fever's back." Ward said, trying very hard not to freak out.

"Oh god. Okay, let's get her back to her bunk. Get some blankets and warm covers ready. I need to grab a few things from the lab. I'll be back in a minute." Simmons said rushing off towards the lab. Fitz went to tell Coulson and May about the situation and Ward carefully picked up Skye and took her back to her bunk. _"She's so light….did she really lose this much weight in just a few days?"_ He managed to get her situated in bed and soon Simmons came barreling through the door.

"I need to draw a blood sample to get her platelet count." Simmons said, prepping a needle and tourniquet. Ward inwardly shuddered at the sight of it. This was the one time that he was happy Skye was not awake. " _If she saw this needle, she would FREAK!"_

In no time, Simmons had her sample and was now using a penlight to look at Skye's eyes.

"I think it was just a small it to the head. It probably felt extremely painful though due to the pain she has been feeling as a result of the dengue fever. She should be fine with some more rest. I do want to keep an eye on her fever. Usually, when one's fever breaks and then reappears, they usually display much more severe symptoms such as abdominal pain, shivering, tremendous sweating, vomiting, and rapid breathing. I think we should take her down to the lab where it would be much easier to treat her symptoms."

Over the span of several hours, Skye had woken up with extreme abdominal pain, she was constantly sweating and shivering, and her breathing was ragged. The entire team was tense with worry. Finally, late that night, Simmons announced that Skye's temperature had dropped and that the symptoms were starting to finally fade away. She took another blood sample and it showed a significant increase in Skye's platelet count.

"She's going to be perfectly alright. It may take her a while to regain her full strength but she will make a complete recovery." Simmons announced early the next day. After what seemed like forever, the team sighed in relief.

Present Day…

Although Skye constantly said that she was fine, Ward and Simmons refused to believe it, especially Ward. Skye doesn't really remember what all happened while she was sick, but she noticed that Ward was much more softer and caring around her, unlike his usual Robot self. It was high time she found out what had happened.

Skye cornered him the next day in his bunk as he was getting dressed. Skye knocked twice on the door and entered, catching Ward, who was only dressed in pants, by complete surprise.

"Skye? What are you doing in here? You could have waited until I said you could come in." Ward said, a hint of annoyance present in his voice.

"Sorry, but I need to know what's going on."

"What do you mean? And shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm fine Ward. What I need to know is what up with this sudden change in attitude? This-this soft, sweet, person is not you. What happened to the serious, no-joke robot?"

"Skye…I…um…well…." Ward started.

"Are you going to finish any of those sentences? Because let me tell you one thing. I don't know what I told you when I was delusional with a fever and all but…." Skye's rant was cut off with Ward's lips crashing against hers in a passionate kiss. Skye could feel so much emotion and love pouring into her body from this, creating a warm and fuzzy sensation all over her body.

After what seemed like ages, they pulled away, Skye immediately missing the contact.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. It's just, when you were sick, I felt so helpless seeing you in so much pain. I…Skye….God, I'm so bad at this." Ward said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. Skye giggled in response.

"What I'm trying to say is that you unlocked a part of me that I had forgotten ages ago. I feel different around you. I feel…lighter and I guess happier. And I know that I'm not the best at relationships or…"T his time Ward was cut off by Skye kissing him.

Skye pulled away, smiling brightly at him. "You talk too much sometimes." She said before pulling him back for another kiss, this one gladly returned by the flabbergasted agent.

 **AN: Well here is Chapter 3 for you guys! I hope you like it! Also thank you so much to those of you that reviewed. Your reviews honestly made me extremely happy. Please do continue to REVIEW!**

 **Also, after this chapter, I will not have any bits from the episode FZZT but will include some parts of The Hub and The Well in the next chapter. It just flows with my plotline a lot better.**

 **Also, once again, I am sorry about any medical discrepancies. I am not a doctor and I tried to keep the medical information as accurate as possible. I did not want this to drag on forever so I cut some of it short. Sorry about that! But please REVIEW! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hi guys! Here is Chapter 4! Also, I was disappointed to see the lack of reviews for the last chapter, but I did notice that more people are following this story. Once again, I would really appreciate it if you guys could review! If you have any ideas that I could incorporate into my story, any suggestions, any thing you may want to see, I may just add it, but only if you guys review and tell me! Please REVIEW! :)**

 **Also, this is more of a filler chapter, it will slowly lead towards the plot I have in mind.**

Skye recovered fairly quickly soon after and was falling pack into her normal routine. Today, she could finally resume her training with Ward as Simmons had cleared her earlier that morning. She made her way towards the cargo ramp, stopping at the staircase, watching her SO punch the bag, as if it had personally offended him. God, she loved how his shoulders flexed every time her punched the bag. _"He looks so HOT when he's all sweaty!"_

"See something you like?" Skye was shaken out of her thoughts at the sound of her SO's voice. She looked over to see him smirking at her. Over the past several days, as Skye was recovering, Ward and Skye developed a strengthening relationship. Skye wouldn't quite label them as 'boyfriend and girlfriend' as she didn't know what Ward thought of their relationship, but she really hoped that he felt the same way. She felt attracted to her SO, but it was more than that. She felt a bond with him that she had never felt with someone else before, not even Miles. With Miles, it was just a friend with benefit sort of thing. Sort of. But with Ward, she felt love, protection, and warmth; something she hadn't ever felt before.

"Rookie, you okay?" Ward asked, concerned when she hadn't replied.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Skye really wanted to kiss him right now, but Fitzsimmons were in the lab and they had agreed to keep their relationship a secret for now. She hadn't looked into the S.H.I.E.L.D. fraternization policy between agents (or a rookie and SO) but she wanted to make sure that Ward wouldn't get into any trouble for being with her. She was just a consultant so S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't really do much to her, but Ward, he could be demoted, transferred to a different team, or even kicked out of the agency if he lets his emotions compromise a mission. She didn't want to be the reason behind it. Skye looked back up at her SO and grinned.

"So, what are we going to do first?" Skye asked enthusiastically.

Ward smiled at her enthusiasm and they started training. Throughout their session, whenever Fitzsimmons were occupied in the lab, they would sneak in small kisses and touches, making sure that no one was watching.

* * *

An hour passed, Fitzsimmons were up in the lounge, and Skye and Ward were engaged in a heavy make-out session on the training mats. Skye had finally managed to pin Ward down and was currently running her hands beneath his tight t-shirt, feeling and admiring the tense muscles underneath. Things were just about to get out of hand when Skye heard footsteps coming towards the cargo bay. Skye pushed herself off of Ward and got up and landed about 3 feet away from him. She looked up to the staircase and saw Coulson appear at the stairs.

"Command Center, five minutes." Coulson said before leaving.

* * *

Coulson frowned as he made his way out of the cargo bay and into the command center. Something was going on between the specialist and hacker, something more than an SO and Rookie relationship. He had a feeling that something blossomed between the two while Skye was ill. He remembered the look on Ward's face when Simmons had told them that Skye had dengue fever. He looked scared, scared that he would lose his Rookie. Coulson smiled slightly. Skye brought out a different side of Ward. Ward's reputation with people was well-known, a poop with knives in it according to Deputy Director Hill. But Skye changed him. She made him more human. _"Well if they are together, there better not be any mini Skyes or Wards running around my plane."_ Coulson thought as he pulled up the mission files on the hologram.

"Mission's simple. We need to extract Agent Shaw, an agent who was undercover in an underground Siberian prison retrieving information about a new weapon that they have created. His job was getting the information; our job is getting him out."

A while later at the Hub…(I know you all have seen this so no need to drag everything out)…

"So Ward and Fitz are going on a classified mission all by themselves?" Skye asked, extremely skeptical of the entire situation. Something was just not sitting right about this whole thing.

"It's a two man operation, one with Ward's skills, one with Fitz's skills. That's all that's needed." Coulson said.

"But I mean…" Skye said, only to be interrupted by Coulson.

"Skye, you don't have the clearance for it. End of discussion" Coulson said before walking away.

Skye frowned after him, this whole operation still bugging her.

* * *

Skye was watching Ward as he was packing for the mission.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Skye asked worriedly.

"Rook, these ops are designed by the best of the best. It will be fine." Ward said reassuringly.

"I just keep getting a bad feeling about this whole thing." Skye said. Ward looked at her for a moment before closing the door to his bunk and pulling her into his arms.

"Just promise me you'll come back." Skye said softly, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I promise." Ward said before capturing her lips with his own into a passionate kiss.

At the Hub…

"There's no extraction…" Skye whispered to herself before she found her computer being slammed by and angry-faced Coulson.

"What did I tell you?"

"You told me to trust the system and they sent Ward and Fitz in there to die."

* * *

"You go the information, now we react." May said, determinately

"We're gonna get our guys." Skye said, relieved that they would be able to rescue Ward and Fitz.

"What about the S.H.I.E.L.D. assault?" Jemma asked.

"We won't interfere. You don't need a battalion for an extraction. Three can pull it off." May said as they entered the cargo hold.

"Four's better." Came Coulson's voice from the top of the stairs.

"I thought we had to be Level 8 to discuss this." Skye said

"We're not discussing anything." Coulson said.

After the extraction…

Skye immediately tackled Ward with a bear hug as soon as he was safely on the plane. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight, eyes wet with tears. Ward hugged her back just as tight, not caring that the whole team was watching them. _"Well, might as well tell them now, more like show them I guess."_ Just as Skye was pulling away from the hug, Ward crashed his lips against hers in a passionate and fiery kiss. Skye responded with just as much enthusiasm.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Skye said when they finally broke the kiss.

"I promised I would come back didn't I?" Ward asked, smiling down at his rookie.

"Well it's about bloody time." Came the voice of the Scottish engineer.

Skye and Ward simultaneously glared at him.

"Oh Fitz, you were ruining their moment." Simmons lightly scolded.

Coulson just stared at the two and May had a small smile on her lips as she watched them from the top of the stairs.

Coulson cleared his throat before speaking.

"Well, since there is no rule against agents dating, I can't stop you two from being together, but just so we are clear, if your relationship jeopardizes a mission or anyone on the team, it stops. Are we clear?" Coulson said, staring hard at the couple.

"Yes Sir. Yes A.C." came the reply.

"Good."

After Coulson left, Jemma squealed in excitement and squeezed Skye in a huge hug.

"Oh my goodness! I knew it! I knew you guys were together!" Jemma shrieked excitedly, still hugging Skye very tightly.

"Jem…can't…bre-breathe." Skye gasped out, slowly turning blue from the lack of oxygen. Jemma quickly let go and apologized. Skye just smiled at her, slowly trying to breathe normally again.

"Well, thanks for the extraction guys." Fitz said, trying to change to topic from mushy gushiness to something else.

May looked down at the four younger agents. "We take care of our own." She said before making her way back to the cockpit.

After another minute of talking, the four younger agents dispersed, Fitzsimmons making their way into the lab, Ward going to take a shower, and Skye went back to her bunk.

In Skye's bunk…

Skye was sitting in her bunk waiting for Ward to finish his shower. She still couldn't get over the fact that she had almost lost him. When she had seen the mission plan after hacking the Level 8 server, she didn't want to believe it. S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent in two of her best friends to die. Skye was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock on her door. She looked up to see her boss standing in front of her, face showing no emotion.

"A.C. I'm sorry about earlier. What I…"

Coulson cut her off. "Don't worry about that. But I didn't forget what you asked of me. I did look more into the redacted file on your parents. That file requires Level 8 security clearance, which I have. But when I requested more information, I couldn't get access to it, apparently it now is only a file that Agent Hill and Director Fury can access." Coulson said seriously.

"Okay and what does that mean?" Skye asked slowly.

"It means that this is much bigger than any of us anticipated. There have only been a select few redacted files that only the Director and Deputy Director have access to. This is much bigger that I thought, than what you thought. What I need to know from you is that…are you sure you still want to know what's in that file? I know for a fact that whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. redacts, it's for an extremely good reason with much anticipation of what can happen in the future if that information is leaked out. Do you still want to know?" Coulson asked, hoping that Skye wouldn't want to know.

"Of course I still want to know. Coulson, that file is the only information I have about myself, my real self. I need to know. _"I need the closure."_ Skye thought that last part in her head.

"Skye…" Coulson started.

"A.C. I told you that nothing could be worse than what I have imagined. I'm prepared for every scenario you can throw at me." Skye said confidently, although her eyes told a different story. She was scared, scared about her past. But she needed to know and Coulson wasn't going to take that from her.

"All right. I'll try to get in contact with Director Fury and see if he will give me access to the file." Coulson said before making his way out of her bunk.

"Coulson…" Coulson turned around. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Skye said, her voice cracking at the end.

Coulson gave a soft smile and nod in return.

* * *

Ward caught sight of his boss leaving his Rookie's bunk and wondered what they were talking about.

"Ward, you have a minute?" Coulson asked as he saw the specialist enter the bunk area.

"Yes Sir. What's going on?"

"I told Skye about some information I discovered about the redacted file on her parents." Coulson relayed the whole story of what he found back over to Ward. "She doesn't know how to approach this. She needs a sense of comfort that I think only you can provide."

"I'll take care of her." Ward promised sincerely. He watched Coulson walk away before calling out to him. "Thank you for coming in to get us sir. I was sort of distracted by Skye practically tackling me earlier."

Coulson smiled. "You should really be thanking that girl of yours. She hacked the Level 8 server at the Hub and discovered that your mission didn't have an extraction. Without her doing that, we would never have known." Coulson said before making his way back to his office.

* * *

Ward entered Skye's bunk to find her staring at the wall, completely lost in thought. He quietly made his way over to her and grabbed her hand.

"Skye, you okay?" Ward asked gently.

Skye looked over at him and nodded. "Coulson told me about what he found out about that file. It's so much more than I thought. I keep thinking about all the possible reasons for why the Director and Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. are the only ones that have access to my file. What really is in that file?" Skye spoke softly.

Ward grabbed her face in his hands and placed a kiss on her nose.

"Whatever it is, just know that I am there for you. Whatever happens, we will go through it together." Ward said before kissing her softly on the lips.

After a while, the two broke apart, oxygen becoming necessary. Ward began to get up and leave but Skye grabbed his hand.

"Will you stay? Please? I really don't want to be alone right now." Skye pleaded.

Ward smiled softy and nodded, the look in her eyes breaking his heart. The two situated themselves on the small bed and laid together, Skye's head resting on Ward's chest and Ward rubbing soothing circles on her back and arm.

"So Rookie…what's this about you hacking a secure Level 8 server at the Hub?

 **AN: Well here is Chapter 4! This is more of a filler chapter; I mean you all know what happened in this episode so yeah! Also I know that a lot of the lines are switched up amongst the characters, but I just felt that they flowed better this way. In this episode, Coulson was a bit stricter than in others I feel so that's how I tried to portray him. Please REVIEW and let me know how you like it. If you guys don't review, then I will have to assume that you guys don't like this story and will just stop posting. I really don't want to do that as I have a great plot line in mind and would love to share it with you all. So once again…REVIEW! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: HI guys! Here is Chapter 5! I saw the number of views for this story and can I just say….OMG! Thank you all so much for reading my story! I am so very happy that almost 900 people like…well more like read, my story! :) :) Well I hope you guys like this chapter! Just a heads up, it will contain a lot of angst, as it will mention things from Skye's past. If you recall from earlier, Skye mentioned to Ward that she's paid the price for trusting people in the past. This chapter will definitely shed some light on that. Thanks once again for all of the views but please also REVEW! :)**

Skye and Ward were in the middle of a hot and heavy make-out session when Coulson announced a meeting in the Command Center over the intercom. Although their relationship had progressed nicely, they wanted to take it slow. They would kiss, hug, comfort, and sleep together but had yet to be intimate. Skye felt that they were ready but Ward wanted to wait. He didn't want to just have sex with her. He wanted to make love with her.

When Coulson's announcement came on, the couple let out a loud groan.

"Ugh…he can wait." Skye said, pulling Ward's lips back onto hers, immediately missing the touch of his lips on her own.

"Sorry. He's the boss. Can't make him wait." Ward said, getting up off of his girlfriend and straightening his shirt. Skye also got up and made herself look presentable before they exited Skye's bunk and made their way to the Command Center.

They entered the Command Center hand in hand and saw the rest of the team already there.

"Glad you could join us." Coulson said, staring at the two latecomers.

"Sorry…so what's going on?" Skye said, abruptly changing the topic to avoid further embarrassment.

"Two people, male and female, cut down a tree in a protected Norwegian forest."

"And why are we called in…" Ward asked confused.

"Two of the forest rangers heard the two and went to investigate. Apparently, the female had a silver… 'stick' in her hand and it gave her super strength. One of the rangers moved to grab her, she thrust her hand out and he flew back over 25 meters into a tree, died instantly. His partner, the other ranger, fled the scene. He was the one who reported the incident." Coulson continued.

"So we're dealing with super powered freaks…cool!" Skye stated, quieting down after receiving the glares of the older agents in the room.

* * *

 _(Like before, I know you guys have seen this so I will be skipping bits and pieces here and there.)_

"How're you doing Agent Ward?"

"Wishing I was shorter. I'm not getting any readings."

"Skye, how about you? Any luck?" Coulson asked.

"I'm lucky that my SO volunteered to take the super creepy hallway instead of the less creepy dungeon room. I got nothing."

"Ward, your spectrograph is reading something near you." Fitz said, looking down at his tablet.

"I don't see anything."

"Well, it's right in front of you. No, wait now it's moving."

"Have visual." Ward said, chasing after the figure.

He caught up just in time to see Professor Randolph trying to escape.

Randolph looked at him wide-eyed as Ward grabbed him. "I have a wonderful explanation." He said.

"I ran into some unexpected ugh…." Ward began as he grabbed the end of the other part of the Berserker staff that was sticking out of Randolph's bag.

 _This is where Ward sees the visions of his brother in the well. I don't really know how to put it into words so I'll let you guys use your creative imaginations instead. :)_

Skye heard Ward gasp loudly through her comm and hurried to his location. _"Please be okay."_

She turned a corner and gasped when she saw Ward collapsed on the floor.

"Ward…are you all right?" Skye asked, gently shaking him, trying to wake him up. Ward jerked awake, breathing heavily before looking at Skye, eyes wild, his whole body shaking.

"Hey…whoa, whoa it's me. Calm down Grant, please calm down." Skye said, her heart breaking at the sight before her.

"The staff…he-he took it." Ward said shakily.

"Skye, what's going on?" Skye heard Coulson's voice through her comm.

"The staff's gone. Someone took it. And there's something wrong with Ward." Skye said uneasily.

* * *

Back on the Bus…

"Hey, Grant… what you saw when you touched the staff, it was about your brother right?" Skye asked softly, desperately wanting to ease the pain he was going through.

Ward harshly glared at her. "Drop it."

"I'm here if you need to talk…"

Ward cut her off. "Yeah talk. Cuz that's all you do. You talk and talk and talk. Don't you ever get tired of hearing your own voice."? Ward said angrily.

Skye took a step away from him, hurt written all over her face.

"Ward, what you're feeling is chemistry." Simmons said, finished with her assessment.

"I hope so." Skye said quietly, not looking at Ward, afraid that if she did, she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears. Fitz and Simmons continued talking while Ward kept staring at the screen, watching Coulson interview Randolph. Skye quietly made her way out of the lab and up the stairs to her bunk.

As soon as she entered her bunk, she turned on some music, tears streaming down her face. Once the music was loud enough, she let out heart-wrenching sobs, glad that no one could hear her break down. She knew that Ward didn't mean what he said, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

 _Flashback…_

 _A five-year-old Skye was sitting in her new room at her seventh foster home. These people were so nice. They gave Skye new clothes, her own room, and toys to play with. The foster mom, Sarah, was the sweetest person ever. She was always happy and was constantly baking goodies in the kitchen. Skye always wondered if her real mother liked to bake too. After her first week there, Sarah taught her how to roll out dough to make cinnamon rolls. It was so much fun! Sarah made her feel so much at home. Her foster dad, Brad, was sort of nice too. He wasn't home much because he was working all day, but when he was he would always smile at her and pat her head and tickle her sides, making her giggle. The first two weeks there were probably the best two weeks Skye had ever had in foster care._

 _After that, everything changed. Brad and Sarah were going through some problems; they were fighting more often, and were not as nice to Skye anymore. One day, Brad came home smelling a bit funky. Skye vaguely remembers Sarah yelling at him about getting drunk. They both yelled at each other for a long time. Then Sarah got really mad and went upstairs, locking Brad out of the room._

 _Skye wanted to help her foster parents as they also helped her out these past couple weeks. She went up to Brad slowly and gently tugged on his hand._

" _Do you want to play a game? Games always make me feel better. Maybe they will make you feel better too." Skye said, her big doe eyes wide._

" _No, go to bed." Brad answered gruffly._

" _How about a story or a movie? They always cheer me up. Back at the orphanage, I would pretend to be in a movie and be the princess that needs to be saved and then there would be a brave knight that would come to rescue me. You could be the brave King that loves his people and always helps them…" Brad cut off Skye's story._

" _SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO PLAY A GAME OR DO ANYTHING WITH YOU! JUST STOP TALKING. DON'T YOU EVER GET TIRED OF HEARING YOUR OWN VOICE?"_

 _That was the last thing before Skye felt glass enter her arms and side as Brad slammed the bottle down on the coffee table next to her, shards of broken glass embedding themselves in Skye's arm and side._

 _She remembers screaming and remembers seeing Sarah come running down the stairs. She remembers seeing Sarah's scared face in front of hers, telling her to hold on. Then everything went black._

* * *

Skye was jolted out of her thoughts by a series of knocks at her bunk door. Skye quickly turned down the music, wiped her eyes to erase all traces of crying and opened the door to see the two scientists bouncing with energy.

"What's up guys?"

"Let's go Skye! We found out where the last part of the staff is hidden. We've been looking all over for you. What were you doing this whole time?" Simmons asked her friend.

"Nothing, just listening to music. It helps calm me down." Skye said.

"Skye… you know that Ward didn't mean what he said in the lab earlier right? The staff caused it all. He would never hurt you like that." Simmons said gently, knowing that Ward's words had pierced through Skye like a hot knife.

"I know that. And I don't blame him. Anyways, let's go get that last piece before the freaks show up." Skye said, putting on her sarcastic and funny girl façade.

* * *

The team arrived at the monastery in Ireland and made their way inside.

"The staff is upstairs." Randolph said, leading them to the staircase.

But of course, the universe hated them all and the bud guys had to show up. Jake Nystrom stabbed Randolph through the heart with the staff. Ward, still feeling the rage running through his body grabbed the staff out of Randolph and tackled Nystrom, sending them both over the railing.

"Grant! We've gotta help him." Skye said quickly, running down the stairs towards Ward.

Skye stopped in front of Ward, pleading with him to put the staff down.

"Grant, please put that down. That's not you. Please." Skye begged.

"Stay back." Ward warned as he turned to face the oncoming attackers. Skye watched as he fought several of the super strength humans, taking and throwing punch after punch. After what seemed like forever, the enemy was eliminated and Ward collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Skye rushed over to him.

"Oh my god…are you okay?" Skye asked as she looped one of his arms over her shoulder, supporting him as he tried to get up. Just then the door burst open and three more whack-jobs entered.

"You have got to be kidding me." Ward muttered as he slowly reached for the staff again, preparing for another onslaught of helplessness, fear, and hatred.

Skye saw him reaching for the staff and made a split-second decision. She quickly pulled Ward back and grabbed the staff herself. The amount of energy and rage that surged through almost made her knees buckle but she managed to keep her balance.

She was distantly aware of Ward yelling at her, but her attention was on the three people in front of her; the ones that made the man she loves feel so much rage in the first place.

* * *

After that, all of it was a blur. Skye felt an extreme amount of adrenaline pumping through her. She felt all of the anger, rejection, and hatred from the past several years all build up and finally explode. Skye let out an inhuman scream before attacking the three assailants. Skye put the skills that Ward had taught her in the past few months to good use.

She swung the staff, remembering the feeling of her 12th foster father's spiked belt make contact with her back.

She blocked swings, remembering her helplessness and fear when one of foster siblings beat the crap out of her for accidentally using their essay to make a paper airplane, at the age of six.

She slammed the hilt of the staff against one of her attackers, remembering a similar feeling when 12-year-old Skye burnt popcorn in the microwave, resulting in a burnt popcorn smell that ran all throughout the house and three fractured ribs.

Skye continued doing this for who knows how long. After what may have been minutes but seemed like hours, there was no one else for Skye to attack. She looked at the staff in her hands and felt herself shake. The staff fell out of her hands and her knees buckled.

Ward slowly made his way over to Skye, pulling her up into his lap and held her close.

"Hey baby, talk to me. I'm here. Don't worry, I'm not leaving you alone, ever." Ward whispered soothing words in Skye's ear as she trembled like a leaf, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall.

Skye finally let her walls break and sobbed into Ward's chest, letting out all of the grief, rage, and hatred out. Ward held her close, stroking her hair, comforting her, letting her know that he was there for her.

After what seemed like forever, Skye finally lifted her face and looked up at Ward.

"Grant…promise you'll never leave me?" Skye whispered, her tear-stained face breaking Ward's heart.

"I promise. I promise I will never leave you." Ward said, slowly rocking her back and forth in his lap. The two watched as the rest of the team and some other agents came in and cleaned up the mess made. After a while, everything was cleaned up and the team made their way to the hotel where they would be staying for the night. Fitzsimmons immediately turned in for the night, May and Coulson went towards the bar to get a drink before heading up themselves. Skye and Ward stood in the lobby after everyone had dispersed.

"Skye, can we talk for a minute?" Ward asked quietly.

Skye tensed. She knew that he wanted to talk about what had happened with the staff and she really didn't want to discuss it. It was still way too fresh for her.

"Grant, I…it's too much for me to talk about right now. Can we talk about this some other time? And anyways, I really want to take a shower and clean myself up." Skye said quickly, placing a kiss on his lips before making her way towards their bedroom. She entered the room and sat down on the bed, releasing a heavy sigh.

" _Why does that still keep haunting me? Why won't it leave me alone? I just want to forget it."_ Skye thought to herself, silent tears streaming down her face. She got up, wiped her eyes, and made her way towards the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Skye emerged from the bathroom, smiling at the sight of Ward zonked out on the bed. Skye quickly changed into her sleepwear and joined him in bed.

"You sure took your time." Ward mumbled sleepily when Skye curled up against his side, her head ending up on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"Sorry, lost track of time." Skye said, lifting her head to see that Ward had already fallen back asleep. She smiled at him and placed a kiss on his nose before curling up in his arms and falling asleep.

* * *

Some time later, Ward was woken up by a hand smacking him in the face. He woke up and saw Skye thrashing in his arms, whimpering and crying out, tears streaming down her face.

Ward gently shook her, trying to wake her up.

"Skye, baby wake up. Skye come on, wake up Rookie." Ward said, trying to wake her up.

"No…please... stop…I'm sorry…I'll be good…please…" Skye whimpered out, still stuck in her nightmare.

Ward began to panic. He shook Skye harder. "Skye, please wake up. Skye?"

"NOOOOOO!" Skye shot up in bed screaming, knocking Ward off. Ward landed on his backside next to the bed letting out an 'oof' noise. Ward quickly got back up and made his way back to Skye who was breathing heavily, eyes wild, her whole body trembling.

"Skye, it's okay. It's me, Grant" Ward said softly, not wanting to startle Skye. He placed a hand on her arm, jerking it back when Skye flinched and scooted away from him towards the edge of the bed. He quickly grabbed her just as she was about to fall off the bed holding her tightly in his arms.

"Shh…Skye…it's just me…it's just me Rookie." Grant said, holding her face in his hands, wiping away her tears.

"Grant…" Skye said hoarsely.

"Yeah…it's me." Ward said, placing a kiss on her forehead. He held her as she cried, rocking her back and forth as she continued to shake in his arms. _"What has her so spooked? I have never seen her like this."_ Ward continued comforting her, wanting nothing more than to take her pain away.

Skye finally pulled away from Ward, wiping the tears away from her face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I haven't had a nightmare like this in…well…in a really long time." Skye apologized.

"Baby, please don't be sorry. Just…don't shut me out. I'm here for you. I hate seeing you like this. If there is anyway I can help you, then please let me." Ward begged her.

Both were silent for a few moments before Ward decided to break the ice.

"Skye, I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier in the lab. I swear to you I didn't mean it, not for a second. I can't even begin to imagine how much it must have hurt you and I am just so _so_ sorry." Ward apologized sincerely, emotion thick in his voice. He knew that his words must have hurt Skye beyond belief and he had heard her crying in her bunk earlier as he made his way past it. He hated how he was the cause of her pain but at that time, the rage of the Berserker staff was still running through him and he didn't trust himself enough to confront her again without causing her more pain.

Skye looked up at Ward, cupping his cheek with her hand. "Grant, I know you didn't mean it. I know you'd never hurt me. It wasn't your fault. Please don't blame yourself for this Grant." Skye placed a kiss on Ward's lips.

"I really don't deserve you." Ward said, smiling softly at the beautiful woman in his arms.

"Skye…do you want to talk about what just happened?" Ward asked gently, referring to her nightmare.

Skye inhaled sharply. "Can it wait? Please? I promise I'll tell you about it but not right now. Please don't make me relive it right now." Skye begged, tears welling up in her eyes again. Ward cursed himself for making her cry again.

"Of course it can wait baby. I just want to know the reason behind your pain so that if I can stop it, I will. I just don't want to see you in anymore pain." Ward said, holding her face in his hands. Skye smiled up at him.

"Tomorrow when we're back on the Bus, I'll tell you everything. I'm tired of hiding things and trying to pretend things don't haunt me. I'll tell you everything tomorrow. But right now, can we just forget about what happened right now?" Skye asked.

Ward nodded. "Of course. Now come one, let's get some sleep."

Ward climbed back into bed and pulled Skye to him. Skye rested her head on Ward's chest, eyes closing, listening to Ward's heartbeat as sleep slowly engulfed her.

 **AN: Woohooooo! Longest chapter yet! I really hope you guys like this and please REVIEW! Speaking of reviews, I want to thank** **Serenity Shadowstar** **for several ideas that I may possibly use in this story. I hoped you like my take on 'The Well' and enjoyed it. Please REVIEW! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hi guys! Here is Chapter 6! So far I have only been getting positive reviews about this story and it's awesome! This chapter is going to be intense! As most of you have already guessed, it will shed some light on Skye's past. I hope you like it and please REVIEW!**

 **Warning: mentions of abuse and rape.**

Skye slowly opened her eyes to see the sun shining through her hotel window. She tried to stretch but found herself trapped in her boyfriend's arms. She looked up and saw his peaceful expression while he slept. Instant guilt washed over her. She had woken up two more times during the night with nightmares, waking up Grant as well. He held her as she sobbed and soothed her back to sleep. She was so absorbed in her nightmares and past coming back that she didn't even ask Grant how he was feeling after the staff. What kind of girlfriend was she? Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

"Skye, what's wrong?" Grant asked, waking up to see his girlfriend crying.

"I'm sorry Grant. I-I was so absorbed in my own stuff last night and I-I didn't even think about how the staff could have been affecting you. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you last night the way you were for me. I'm so sorry." Skye said, crying into Grant's chest.

"Oh Skye…that staff affected you so much more than me. I can't stand to see you in pain. And as for me, what the staff showed me, it was the past. It was about my younger brother Tommy. One summer, my older brother Christian who was 10, Tommy who was 7, and I who was 8, were at my grandparents' house in Massachusetts. They had an old well in the back and one day Tommy and I were playing back there. We were just tossing a ball around and Tommy threw it too hard and it landed in the well. We went over and saw it floating around. Neither of us knew how to swim at that time so we were afraid to go. I decided to go and get Christian because he knew how to swim so he could get it out for us. I ran inside got Christian and brought him outside. Tommy told him that he accidentally threw the ball too hard and it landed in the well. Christian was pissed. The next thing I knew, Christian grabbed Tommy and threw him into the well.

 _Flashback…_

" _Grant…help me!" Tommy begged from inside the well._

" _Don't help him Grant. He made the mistake, he has to pay the price." Christian said, a hard, almost evil look in his eyes._

" _But he doesn't know how to swim. He'll drown." Grant said, desperate to help his little brother. He made his way towards the rope that was sitting on the side._

" _You throw that rope down to him and I'll throw you down there too." Christian said angrily. "Let it stay a bit longer."_

" _Help please!" Tommy pleaded, trying to stay above the water._

 _Christian smiled evilly before turning to go back into the house. As soon as Christian was a good distance away, Grant threw the rope down to Tommy._

" _Tommy…grab the rope! I'll pull you up!" Grant shouted._

 _Grant watched as Tommy went under the water again before coming back up and grabbing the rope._

Skye hugging him shook Grant out of his thoughts.

"You saved him Grant. Tommy is alive because of you." Skye said.

"I could have prevented it. After that, he developed a phobia of the water. He wouldn't go to the beach, to the swimming pool, or anything like that. After that, my grandparents closed off the well too. I just wish that I could have been braver and pulled him out earlier. He almost drowned and I couldn't do anything." Grant said, emotion thick in his voice.

"Grant…you were so brave. You didn't let him drown. You didn't know that Christian was going to throw him in the well. The only person to blame here is Christian. Don't blame yourself for this."

"Tommy said the same thing. He said I was brave too. Didn't feel it at that time but he still says I'm the hero."

"You are. Are you and Tommy close?"

"Sort of. He's an engineer working with NASA and has a girlfriend. Last time I saw him was Christmas time. I was in D.C. that time and we decided to meet up. He talked about working with NASA, kinda sounded like Fitz now that I think about it, a bunch of sciency mumble jumble. I talked to him about working with S.H.I.E.L.D. I didn't discuss my missions but I told him the general gist. He looked at me like I was some superhero. He said and I quote 'I knew you would do something like this. This is proof that you are extremely brave.'"

"Awww…he is so sweet. I hope I get to meet him someday." Skye said

"You will. We made plans to meet up around Christmas again this year if I have no missions. You'd like Tommy."

"I think I'd like him too. I mean I like his super handsome and sweet older brother so I think I'd like him too."

Grant smiled as he pulled Skye in for a kiss. They kissed passionately for a minute before breaking apart for air. Just then, Skye heard a faint knock at their door. Frowning, she went over and opened it just in time to see Simmons making her way down the hall.

"Jemma? Is everything okay?" Skye asked.

"Oh Skye, I didn't wake you two up did I? Actually, Fitz and I were awake and were wondering if you and Ward wanted to get some breakfast together. I mean, on the Bus, we usually don't get many opportunities to go out for breakfast or anything and there is this adorable little restaurant down the street that is well-known for their scones and Irish coffee and tea. And since you two had a rough night we wanted to treat you two to a nice breakfast before we have to get back to the Bus. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to wake you…." Skye cut off Simmons' rambling.

"Jemma…breathe. And yeah, we'd love to join you. I've never had scones or Irish coffee before so I'd love to try some. And you didn't wake us up. We were just talking. How about Grant and I meet you guys downstairs in the lobby in…maybe 20 minutes?" Skye asked, smiling at her British friend.

Jemma lit up. "Of course. Sounds great. See you in a bit." Jemma waved before heading down the hall towards Fitz's room.

Skye closed the door and turned back to Grant who was lying against the headboard in bed.

"What did Simmons want? She was talking way too fast for me to understand." Ward said.

"She and Fitz wanted to meet up for breakfast at this little restaurant that serves scones and Irish coffee and tea. I told her we'll meet them down in the lobby in 20 minutes." Skye said, making her way towards the bathroom.

"Irish coffee…heard a lot about it. Guess we'll finally get to try some." Grant said as he watched Skye make her way into the bathroom.

Some time later, the four youngsters enjoyed a delightful breakfast of Irish coffee for Skye and Ward and Irish tea for Fitz and Simmons along with some of the best scones that Skye and Ward had ever had. Well, this was the first time that Skye had eaten scones, but Ward swore that they were the best scones he had ever tasted.

They returned to the Bus a while later and resumed their daily routine. Fitzsimmons made their way into the lab, talking a bunch of science nonsense that went over the top of everyone's head. May and Coulson had gotten back a while before the others and were currently locked up in Coulson's office. Grant and Skye started their usual workout, albeit a bit late.

After Skye and Grant had their training/sparring session, they made their way upstairs towards the living area.

"Wanna play Battleship?" Skye asked.

"You just wanna play so you can win. I know you cheat." Grant said grinning slightly at his girlfriend.

"How can you cheat at stabbing in the dark?" Skye asked defiantly.

"I don't know but there is no way that you can win every single game of Battleship we have played without some sort of cheating mechanism." Grant argued.

"You're just a sore loser. Just admit it, I am the best that there is at Battleship." Skye said smiling widely.

Grant didn't respond. He just dipped his head and captured her lips with his in a fiery and passionate kiss. Skye wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her lips, allowing Grant to slip his tongue inside her mouth and soon both tongues were fighting for dominance over each other.

"Oh bloody hell! Get a room." Fitz cried as he passed them on his way to the kitchen. The two broke apart and glared at Fitz.

"Hungry…?" Fitz asked, holding up pretzels.

Five minutes later, Skye, Grant, Fitz, and Jemma were gathered around eating lunch and playing poker, Skye and Jemma losing miserably. Finally, both decided to stop playing and were watching the two boys play, rather intensely.

"I call and raise a hundred." Grant said, his poker face on.

Fitz chuckled. "You know I know I'm going to beat you."

"By losing." Grant said seriously.

"You have a tail. A psychological tick that lets me know you're bluffing."

"Seriously, you just made that up. I do no such thing."

"See, you're denying it. That means you have one."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Oh please, you two are bickering like children." Jemma said, annoyed and amused at the same time.

"Yeah. It's actually kind of cute." Skye added.

Fitz and Grant broke into an argument about 'not being cute', continuing to amuse the two girls.

The four friends continued playing and teasing each other for a long while close to dinnertime.

After dinner, the team settled down in the living room to watch a movie together, a change for Coulson and May who were constantly locked in his office discussing official crap all the time. They started out pretty fine, starting with Skye, Fitz, Jemma's favorite movie, Frozen. Grant, May, and Coulson were begging for blood and gore so then they decided to watch Jaws. Surprisingly, Fitzsimmons were very absorbed in the movie, contrary to the older agents' beliefs that it would frighten them beyond repair. Skye however spent the better part of the movie hiding her face in Grant's chest, covering her ears, and screaming at the top of her lungs. Grant did not mind, in fact, he enjoyed the feeling of his girlfriend snuggled up in his lap.

Two hours later, their movie night ended and everyone went their own separate ways, Coulson to his office to put away all of his papers, May to the cockpit to check everything before turning on autopilot, Fitzsimmons went to the lab to turn off all of their sci-fi doohickeys, Grant went to take a shower, and Skye went to her bunk, waiting for her boyfriend to show up for bed.

When Grant entered Skye's bunk, he was surprised to see her sitting on the bed, staring out the window, completely quiet. Usually she's singing a song to herself or playing with some form of technology. Grant quietly shut and locked the door.

"Skye, what's wrong?" He asked, slowly approaching the bed.

"I promised that I would tell you about my past. You told me yours so it's only fair that I tell you mine." Skye said softly, not meeting his gaze.

"Skye…I don't want to force you to tell me anything. You can tell me when you're ready." Grant said, not wanting to be the cause of her suffering. He could tell that her past still haunted her and he didn't want to be the one that made her relive it all.

"I am ready. I hid behind a mask for so long, pretending that if I didn't think about it, it would one day go away. But it won't it keeps coming back every day to haunt me, to torment me. I can't take it anymore. Maybe talking about it will put those demons to rest." Skye said.

Neither said anything for a few moments. Grant tightened his grip on Skye's hand, assuring her that he was there for her.

Skye took a deep breath before speaking.

"The past 25 years of my life have been trying, to say the least. You know that I grew up in an orphanage, St. Agnes. Along with that, I lived in a lot of foster homes. Well…some of the foster homes were nice, some of them…not so much.

 _Flashback…_

 _Four-year-old Skye was on her way to her first foster home. She was bouncing with excitement. Her foster parents seemed so nice. They even got her chocolate ice cream on the way home. When they arrived at the house, Skye was in awe. In front of her stood a two-story home, complete with a white picket fence and a chocolate colored Labrador playing in the front lawn. The Lab stopped and looked at the little newcomer. He slowly made his way over and sniffed Skye. Skye, somewhat frightened by the big dog hid behind her new foster mom, Rebecca, clutching tightly at her leg. Rebecca smiled softly and placed her hand on Skye's head. "That's Lucky. He won't hurt you. You wanna pet him? Come on, I'll show you how." Rebecca squatted down to Skye's height and took her hand in her own and slowly reached towards Lucky, scratching him behind the ear. Skye giggled when Lucky licked her hand in return._

 _The new family made their way inside the house and Skye saw two more people as they entered the living room. Skye's foster father, David, picked Skye up and introduced her to his brother and his wife, Jacob and Lucy, her new aunt and uncle. Skye shyly waved at them and they smiled in return, happy to meet their newest family member. After Skye was situated in her new home, Lucy and Rebecca decided to start making dinner. They made a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with cheesy garlic bread and a side salad. Skye felt like a hippopotamus afterwards. To get Skye comfortable in her new home, everyone decided to watch a movie together. Skye fell asleep halfway through The Lion King, head resting on Rebecca's lap. David took her upstairs to her new room and tucked her into bed. Skye fell asleep happily in her new home._

 _This nice routine continued for about a month. Jacob and Lucy came over frequently and played with Skye. Lucy would braid her hair, paint her nails, and play with her. Jacob was much more quiet around her. He would smile and be nice but would never go out of his way to talk to Skye or interact with her a lot. When he wasn't smiling, he was kinda creepy._

 _Three days later, things got weird. Skye and Rebecca were in the kitchen. Rebecca had just made come chocolate chip cookies and Skye was eating them enthusiastically with a glass of milk. The front door suddenly burst open and Lucy rushed into the kitchen, tears streaming down her face. She ran into Rebecca's arms and sobbed, Rebecca wrapping her arms tightly around her holding her as she cried. Jacob came in a moment later, eyes wide with anger, a malicious scowl on his face. He made his way over to Lucy and ripped her out of Rebecca's arms. Rebecca pulled Lucy back to her, clutching her protectively to herself. Rebecca and Lucy made their way out of the kitchen, leaving an angry Jacob in the kitchen with Skye. Skye go off the stool and slowly walked over to Jacob._

" _Uncle Jacob, why was aunt Lucy crying?" Skye asked, tugging on Jacob's jacket sleeve. Jacob turned on her, eyes blazing with fury. "Never call me that again!" He shouted pushing her away from him. Skye landed a few feet away and heard an audible crack in her arm and everything turned black._

"That was the first time. He pushed me into the wall and I fell on by arm, breaking it. It took me months to recover from it. That was my first major injury. After that, the next few homes I went to weren't abusive, but they weren't the nicest either. I only stayed there for a couple of days, a week at most. The next incident happened when I was five. Remember when you touched the staff and you kinda lost it in the lab with me and Fitzsimmons…" Skye said, looking up at Ward. She watched as guilt and regret immediately clouded his eyes. He nodded, softly apologizing again. "you didn't know this and I don't blame you at all for this, but what you said triggered something. I was at another home and it seemed to be working out nicely. After a few weeks, the dad, Brad came home drunk and it scared the crap out of me. The mom, Sarah yelled at him for a minute before going into her room and locking the door. I looked at Brad and asked him if he wanted to play a game. He said no and told me to go to bed. I could tell he was upset but I thought that maybe I could make him feel better. I asked him if he wanted to hear a story or watch a movie. I told him how they always cheered me up and then he got really angry. He screamed 'Don't you ever get tired of hearing your own voice?' before he slammed the bottle of alcohol down on the coffee table and pieces of glass got stuck in my arm and side. I remember screaming and saw Sarah run down the stairs and pick me up. Next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital and ended up back at the orphanage two days later." Skye finished.

Grant felt anger course through his veins. All he wanted right now was to find the people that caused his Skye all this pain and beat the crap out of them. Killing them would be too easy. He wants them to suffer. He looked back at Skye and saw silent tears streaming down her face. He felt hi heart twist with pain.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that."

"Grant, I know you never meant it. It just triggered something I didn't want to remember. It started out with just broken bones and cuts and bruises. But then, things got so much worse. I thought that as I got older, things would get better. When I went to my last foster home at 16, things got so much crueler.

 _Sixteen-year-old Skye was tired of getting hurt. She didn't know what she did to deserve all the pain that she had been put through the past twelve years but she just wanted it to stop. She had just met her new foster parents; she had lost count of how many foster parents she had met over the years. She really hoped that this family was actually nice to her. James and Madison Hall, seemed like nice people, Skye just hoped that they actually were._

 _Skye arrived at her new home, a big fake smile plastered on her face as she entered her new home with her new parents. Everything seemed fine for the first two days. It always started out nice. But then, it just got worse. The weekend came and Madison flew out of town to visit her ill mother in Vermont, leaving Skye and James alone. Saturday morning was calm, both waking up and having a breakfast of pancakes together. After breakfast, James asked Skye if she would be okay by herself for the rest of the day as he has to pull in an overtime shift at work. Skye nodded, saying that she would be fine on her own and asked if she should have dinner ready for them when he returns. He responded by saying that he would be going out for his friend's birthday and she should eat and go to sleep, as he will probably be home pretty late._

 _Skye spent the Saturday to herself, cleaning up the house here and there; wanting to surprise Madison when she returned and binge watched several seasons of her favorite show Supernatural. Nighttime came; Skye made herself a light dinner and by 11:30 was zonked out in bed._

 _Around 3 am, Skye's bedroom door opened and James silently walked in, completely drunk, a bottle of booze in one hand. He shut the door behind him and locked it. He slowly made his way towards the sleeping figure of Skye and traced a finger down her cheek. Skye stirred at this and slowly opened her eyes, scared as she saw the figure of her foster father looming over her._

" _Is everything okay?" Skye asked shakily, clutching her blanket closer to her chest._

 _James let out a scary laugh._

" _Everything is just fine sweetheart." James said as he climbed onto the bed and pinned Skye underneath him._

" _What are you doing? Get off of me…please!" Skye begged._

" _Shh…shh…stop talking." James said, pulling a knife out of his pocket and slowly traced Skye's cheek with the tip of it._

 _Skye whimpered but kept quiet, not wanting to anger the man, afraid of what he might do._

" _You know, you're real pretty. It's a shame you won't feel it after tonight." James said before he ripped off her shirt, his hands roaming all over her body. Skye screwed her eyes shut, trying to block out what was about to happen next. She felt her pajama pants being ripped off and begged him to stop. He glared at her and cut shallow cuts into her arms and stomach, threatening her with much more if she breathed a word about this. That night, Skye's hell officially began._

"He-he-he threatened to kill me slowly and painfully. He saw how that wasn't going to keep me quiet so he started threatening the friends I had made at school. He threatened to do the same thing to them and kill them in the worst ways possible. I couldn't be the cause of someone else getting hurt. He-he raped me Grant." Skye sobbed into her boyfriend's chest.

Grant clenched his jaw in anger as he held Skye closer to him. He took a few calming deep breaths as he felt the anger of the Berserker staff course through him again. All he wanted right now was to pummel that bastard into the ground and slowly destroy him. He heard Skye whimper and he felt his heart break.

"Skye…baby…I'm so sorry you had to go through that. God, I wish more than anything that I was there to protect you at that time. I wanna kill that guy so slowly and painfully…" Grant started, interrupted by Skye.

"Yeah…well that's really not possible anymore." Skye said softly, averting her gaze from him. She slowly moved out of his arms and wrapped her sweater tighter around herself.

"What do you mean Skye?" Grant asked, reaching towards her again, stopping when she hugged herself tighter.

"I…that…it wasn't the only time he did that. After the first time… he said that if I breathed a word about what happened to anyone, then Madison, my foster mom, would be the first one he crossed off. I knew for a fact that she genuinely cared about me and I liked her, I actually thought of her as my mom and I couldn't even comprehend the idea of her getting hurt. So I kept quiet. She came back two days later and I pretended that everything was normal. A week later, one of Madison's friends was in the hospital and had to spend a few days there. Madison decided to spend a night with her, as she had no family in the area. She left after dinner, promising to come back in the morning. After dinner, I cleaned up and James made his way into the living room to watch TV. I finished cleaning and went to the living room to grab my book and head up to bed, afraid to be alone near James. I entered the living room while James was watching a football game and grabbed my book off of the coffee table and was about to leave when James grabbed me from behind and slammed me down on the couch. I fought for a bit but he was much stronger than me.

 _Skye grabbed her book off of the coffee table and went to leave but before she could take a single step, a strong hand grabbed her upper arm and pushed her into couch. Before she could even comprehend what was going on, she felt a heavy body on top of hers. James pinned her wrists next to her head and was roughly kissing her. Skye desperately tried to fight her way out from underneath him but he was too strong. One of Skye's flailing hands whacked him in the face and he let go of her wrists for a second, allowing Skye to push him off of her. She tried to run but as soon as she got off the couch, James tripped her, grabbed her by the neck, and shoved her into the glass coffee table, the glass breaking underneath Skye, pieces embedding themselves all over Skye's back. Skye cried out in pain, tears streaming down her face, matching pace with the warm, slick blood seeping out of her back. James backhanded her across the face and pinned her down again. He ripped off Skye's shirt, some of the pieces of glass being removed in the process, causing white-hot pain to pulse through Skye. She was laying on the floor gasping for air as James continued to remove Skye's clothing, in a rather painful way. A few seconds later, Skye was left in only her underwear and bra, blood still leaking from her wounds, surrounding Skye in a puddle of blood. James trailed kisses all over her body, making Skye want to vomit in disgust. She struggled some more, only ending up making things even worse for herself. She turned her head to the side and saw a rather large piece of glass next to her head, almost looking like a knife. Skye felt James begin to cut her in several places all over her stomach, chest, arm, and legs, and in a last desperate attempt to escape the monster in front of her, she grabbed the glass and thrust it in front of her. Skye squeezed her eyes shut as she heard a muffled gasp. She opened her eyes to see James looking down at her in shock. She looked down and saw the glass penetrating his sternum and blood slowly pooling on his chest. He let out another gasp before collapsing on top of Skye. Skye panicked and tried to move the body on top of her. After what seemed like forever, she finally managed to push the unmoving body of James off of her and sobbed. She noticed that his cell phone had fallen out of his pocket and tried to reach it. The glass continued to cut her as she reached to get the phone. After finally grasping the phone, she pressed "2", speed dialing Madison._

" _Hey James, everything okay?" came Madison's sweet voice._

" _Madison, help…."Skye said as blackness finally overcame her._

 _Madison's frantic voice was the last thing she heard before she faded into oblivion._

Skye looked ahead, eyes glazed over and empty.

"I killed him. After I called Madison, I passed out and woke up in the hospital three days later. I had lost a lot of blood because one of the pieces had grazed a major artery. When I woke up, Madison was sitting next to me. She told me that the doctors had told her that James had raped me after they did a rape kit on me since they found me practically naked on the living room floor. I wasn't in any trouble for killing James since it was clearly self-defense and she didn't blame me. She apologized to me for what James had done to me. I don't really remember the rest of it but I just couldn't get over the fact that I killed someone. I'm a monster Grant. I just killed him. I-I…" Skye couldn't finish, sobs escaping her throat.

Grant felt tears prick at his eyes but he pushed them back, needing to be strong for Skye.

"Skye, you are not a monster. You are a brave and selfless human being that was put through the worst possible circumstances at a young age. You faced all of that and still came out on top. You are a beautiful and amazing person. You are anything but a monster." Grant said, holding her face in his hands. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead before hugging her tightly to himself. "I promise that I will never let anything happen to you ever again." He whispered in her ear.

Skye clutched at him tighter, so grateful that he was there for her.

Grant eased the two of them down onto the bed, clutching Skye closer to him. He slowly felt her breathing even out and after a few minutes he noticed that she was asleep. Dried tear tracks were seen on her beautiful face and Grant brushed a soft kiss on her forehead. _"I love you so much Skye. I promise that I will always protect you."_ Grant thought as he also drifted off to sleep.

 **AN: Okay…this is definitely the longest chapter I've ever written! Once again, thank you to those that have reviewed. Reviews are my motivation and would love more reviews. I really hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know you guys liked this! REVIEW! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hi guys! Here is Chapter 7! I was a bit disappointed with the lack of reviews for the last chapter. I really have high hopes for this story but if you guys do not want to read it, then I will stop posting. If I don't get more reviews for this story then I just may have to delete this story. Please REVIEW! I really want to continue this story.**

Skye woke to the sunlight streaming through her bunk window. She smiled and stretched her arms.

 _WHACK!_

"OW!" Grant yelled as he was slapped awake, sitting up in bed looking for a possible intruder. He looked down at Skye who was smiling sheepishly at him.

"Sorry, I was just stretching and kinda slapped you in the face. Did it hurt?" Skye asked, feeling guilty about waking her boyfriend up that way.

"Nah. Just surprised me." Came the reply. Grant threw the covers off and placed his feet on the floor, back facing Skye. Suddenly, he felt two petite arms wrap around his waist and soft hair caressing his back.

"Thanks for being there for me last night." Skye said softly into his back.

Grant smiled and turned his head and placed a kiss on the top of Skye's head. "I'll always be there for you Skye. I promise." Skye smiled into his shoulder.

* * *

45 minutes later, they, along with Fitzsimmons were seated at the breakfast bar eating Simmons' delicious breakfast casserole.

"Damn Simmons, this is awesome!" Grant said as he continued shoveling food in his mouth.

"Seriously Jem. This is heavenly." Fitz said, matching pace with Grant.

"Aww, thanks guys! It's actually my grandmother's recipe. She taught me just about everything I know about cooking. My mother wasn't the best in the kitchen. Cooking was always my dad's job. But every time Nana would come over, he would refuse to cook because he practically worshipped my grandmother's cooking." Simmons said smiling at the two boys as they nearly choked on their food.

"That's so sweet. I'm not much into cooking, but I love baking. At St. Agnes, Sister McKenna and I would always bake together whenever the rest of the kids were out doing something else. She and I baked everything from pies to cakes, cookies, brownies, and I swear she makes the best chocolate chip pancakes ever. Every Sunday, after church the nuns would take the younger kids to the park to play. All the kids 10 and over would hang back out at the orphanage. Usually it wasn't more than 5-6 kids so that's when Sister McKenna would make us those pancakes." Skye said.

"Oooooh…I love chocolate chip pancakes. Will you make them for us someday?" Fitz asked, cheese dripping out of his mouth.

"Gross Fitz…and no I won't. Sister McKenna has her own secret recipe that she won't share with anyone. But I'm sure I can make some chocolate chip pancakes that are similar to that. About a month before Coulson and Grant kidnapped me, I went back to visit her at the orphanage and she made them. I managed to eat enough to be able to recreate them close enough to what she does." Skye said, smiling at the fond memory.

"You guys seem really close." Simmons said as she watched her friend smile.

"Yeah…she's the only mother figure I really ever had. Well, I guess she's more like a grandmother now. She'll be 65 in a week. I remember her first birthday we celebrated together after she came to St. Agnes. She turned 50 and me and another girl decided to bake her a cake. This was before she taught me how to bake by the way. We managed to get everything together but as we were mixing the melted chocolate with the batter, the batter curled and looked really unappealing. We just thought that it worked out in the oven so we put it into the pan and baked it. When Sister McKenna actually tried it, she nearly puked. That's when she told us that we had scrambled the eggs when we added in the chocolate." Skye said, looking sheepish at her mistake.

Fitz, Simmons, and Grant looked at her for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Oh that poor lady." Simmons said after several moments of laughing.

"Seriously Skye, you didn't think that something was remotely wrong with the batter before you put it in the oven?" Fitz asked, amusement in his voice.

"No," Skye said defensively. "I was a child at that time. It was my first time baking so I didn't think anything of it. Guess I was wrong."

"Well, I mean it's the thought that counts right?" Grant asked, trying to help out his very embarrassed girlfriend.

"Yeah! And now I can make an awesome chocolate cake without even thinking about it. After that first incident, Sister McKenna made it a top priority that I learn the 'true magic of baking'." Skye stated fondly, forming air quotes around the last four words.

The four friends continued their breakfast for another few minutes before Coulson came down the stairs and entered the kitchen area.

"Mission briefing in five." He stated before making his way over to the coffee maker, grabbing his Captain America mug on the way.

* * *

Five minutes later, the team was gathered around the holocom going over a new mission.

"We have a lead on Centipede." Coulson stated, pulling up some images and documents. "HQ had facial recognition running ever since Hong Kong trying to look for the girl in the flower dress that had found Scorch and the one that also paid Mr. Lydon to hack into out encrypted data stream. We found out that her name is Raina and she is a scientist working with Centipede to try and replicate the serum that was created to make super soldiers."

May took it from there. "We've managed to track her location to an abandoned office building in Wisconsin. Using the new tech that Fitzsimmons has developed, we were able to get the heat signature readings from the building, confirming that there are indeed Centipede soldiers there."

"So how do we proceed sir?" Grant asked.

"HQ is sending over a strike team to assist us. Ward, you will be positioned on top of a nearby building with the Night-Night rifle. Any clear shot at a Centipede soldier, you take it. May and I will enter through the front of the building, the strike team will break up into two teams, one will enter from the back and one will enter from the roof. Fitzsimmons, you will be monitoring communications from here. Skye, you will be in the van on site and will be leading us through the building. Make sure you have the blueprints for the right building. Any questions?" Coulson asked as he finally finished.

"Good. We touch down in five hours." Coulson said, making his way out of the command center, May following him.

Five hours later, the team got ready to enter the building. They had met up with the strike team at the base and made their way from there. Ward was currently positioned on top of a nearby building, May and Coulson were entering the building along with the strike team, and Skye was in the van.

10 minutes later, an explosion from the top floor shook the van Skye was siting in.

"Coulson, May, are you guys okay?" Skye asked frantically.

"Yeah…we're okay. We managed to get out. We were able to get into their lab but just then, one of the soldiers went boom. My guess is that he overdosed on the serum." Coulson said, coughing as he and May made their way out.

"Did you get Raina?" Ward's voice came through the coms.

"No, she got out before we could get to her." Coulson responded.

Just then, they heard the _chop chop_ of a helicopter flying overhead.

"Have a visual on Raina." Ward said, aiming his gun towards her.

Before Coulson could respond, the chopper began firing at the roof where Ward was positioned and at the van where Skye was working.

"Take cover!" Coulson yelled as he shoved May behind a car and crouched down next to her.

"Ward, Skye you okay?" May yelled into the coms.

"Ugh…I'm good. Managed to take cover. Hit my head but other than that I'm fine." came Ward's reply.

"Skye, Skye come on answer me!" Coulson screamed into the coms.

"Sir, her vitals are dropping. She definitely is unconscious." Simmons voice poured over the coms.

"Ward, meet back by the van." May commanded as she and Coulson made their way to the van.

Coulson and May got to the van and opened the door to see Skye unconscious on the floor, blood covering her side.

"Skye…" Coulson said as he made his way into the van and lifted her shirt to see the wound. He looked at the injury and sighed in relief. "Just a graze. She probably hit her head on something, knocking her out."

"Simmons can check her out when we get back." May said, just as the door to the van opened.

"SKYE?!" came the panicked voice of Ward.

"Calm down Ward, it's just a flesh wound. She'll be fine. She probably hit her head on something. We'll have Simmons check her out when we get back to the Bus." Coulson said, trying to calm the young man.

Ward visibly relaxed and gently placed Skye's head in his lap as May started driving back towards the Bus.

* * *

Back on the Bus, Fitz and Simmons were pacing the lab, anxious to see Skye for themselves. Simmons constantly monitored Skye's vitals via her tracking bracelet while they waited for the rest of the team to return.

Moments later, the sound of doors opening and closing got their attention. Ward entered the lab, an unconscious Skye in his arms.

"Put her on the table." Simmons said, immediately going into doctor mode.

Ward gently placed Skye on the blanket-covered table and moved out of the way so that Simmons could examine Skye. A few minutes later, Simmons breathed a sigh of relief.

"Will she be okay?" Grant asked worriedly.

"She will be just fine. The bullet simply grazed her. My guess is that she was sitting when she was hit and when she fell, she tore her wound open a bit more, hence the excess bleeding. She hit her head when she fell so that's why she was unconscious when you guys found her in the car. But a few days of TLC and she will be as good as new. That and six stiches." Simmons said happily.

Grant nearly collapsed in relief. He sat down in a chair next to Skye and rested his forehead on her arm. "God Rookie, you scared the crap out of me." He said, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"You look cute when you're worried."

"Skye! You're awake! How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?" Grant started asking.

"Calm down Turbo. My head hurts a bit and my side feels like its being pinched constantly but other than that, I'm good. Are you okay?" Skye asked as she slowly got up, Grant supporting her upper body.

"I'm fine. But I'm serious; don't ever scare me like that again." Grant said sternly.

"I won't." Skye said, grinning up at him before pulling him down into a passionate kiss.

"Now help me off this table. My butt is freezing."

Instead of helping her off, he picked her up in his arms and carefully took her up the stairs towards her bunk. Skye wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her face into his chest.

"I love you." She whispered, placing a soft kiss on the skin between his neck and shoulder.

Grant smiled widely at her declaration. He kissed the top of her head before responding. "I love you too."

The couple entered the lounge area and after several hugs, promises, and threats (May mostly), they made their way towards their bunk.

* * *

A week later, Skye was all but completely recovered from her little injury and was already back to her normal self.

Coulson had come into the lab where the four youngsters were and told them that they were stopping in L.A. for refueling and restocking. Skye immediately came up with a plan in her head and headed up to Coulson's office.

"Hey AC. Can I come in?" Skye asked.

"Sure thing Skye. What's up?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Um…I was wondering if I could leave the Bus for a few hours when we land in L.A. I want to visit someone in town and it's their birthday so I really want to surprise them."

"I don't see the harm in that. Just don't go alone. I assume you will be taking Ward with you?" He asked in a knowing manner.

"Yup! I want him to meet Sister McKenna too. What time are we landing?" Skye asked.

"Probably in about 3 hours."

"Ooh, I better hurry. Thanks AC." Skye said as she raced out of his room and down towards the kitchen.

* * *

Fitzsimmons were talking about new additions to the Night-Night Gun when they heard the clanking of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. They head over to see what was going on when they find Skye making something in the kitchen. Flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate chips, and several other baking products took up almost all of the space on the countertops.

"Um…Skye…what are you doing?" Fitz asked slowly, suspicious of Skye in the kitchen.

Skye looked up from where she was mixing batter in a bowl and smiled.

"AC said that we're stopping in L.A. and I asked him if I could go see Sister McKenna at the orphanage and he said yes! It's her birthday today so I'm making her favorite chocolate cake and white chocolate and raspberry cookies." Skye said as she poured the batter into a pan and placed it into the preheated oven.

Simmons walked in and noticed a chocolate batter in another bowl.

"What's this Skye? You already put in the cake so what's this chocolate mix?"

Skye smiled mischievously. "That, my dearest Jemma, is a surprise. It's for the team but I'm on a time crunch right now so I'll make them for you all tomorrow. That okay?"

"Of course! Do you need any help with the cookies?"

"Can I lick the bowl?" Fitz asked from the side.

"Nope. Rule number one; never leave a drop of batter in the bowl. Bake every little drop." Skye said over her shoulder as she began rolling the cookies out, silently showing Jemma how to do it as well. Fitz shrugged his shoulders before sitting down at the breakfast bar and watched to two girls make cookies.

Grant, who was on a date with the heavy bag downstairs for the past three hours, was finally coming back upstairs when he smelled the delicious scent of chocolate baking. He entered the kitchen and saw Skye and Jemma making something and what looked like a cake in the oven. He walked over to where Fitz was and sat down next to him.

"What's going on?" he asked the trio.

"Baking a cake and cookies for Sister McKenna's birthday. Coulson said that I could go visit her when we land in L.A. Will you come with me? I really want you to meet her." Skye said, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Of course. I kinda wanna meet her myself. And maybe eat some of those pancakes too." Grant said grinning at her. Skye glared at him and threw an empty measuring cup at his head.

"If you tell Sister McKenna that you came to meet her just for her food then I will hurt you. She is the sweetest person on the planet and has a soft spot for anyone that loves food. But over the years, I've seen so many people be all sweet and nice to her just so they can try her food. They take advantage of her kindness and I don't like that at all." Skye said, passionately defending her mother figure.

"I didn't mean it like that babe. I was just kidding. I promise I won't say anything like that to her." Grant said, making his way over to her and wrapping his arms around her.

"Eww…you smell like a gym locker. Take a shower or you won't be meeting her at all." Skye said, placing a quick kiss on his lips before shoving him away. Grant chuckled and made his way out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom.

* * *

Three hours later, the plane touched down at a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Los Angeles. Fitzsimmons and Coulson left to restock on their supplies, May stayed on the plane to run diagnostics and reboot while they were still grounded, and Skye and Grant left to go to the orphanage.

Grant made his way over to the SUV and started it up. Skye made her way down the stairs with two containers, one with the chocolate cake, and one with the cookies. She got into the passenger seat and Grant pulled the car out of the cargo bay.

During the twenty-minute drive to the orphanage, Skye couldn't contain her excitement. She hadn't been able to visit Sister McKenna for her last birthday as she was in Texas with Miles but she was going to make this one the most memorable birthday Sister McKenna had ever had. Grant smiled at the sight of the excited and childish Skye sitting next to him. He was happy that she was excited to see Sister McKenna. He realized that she was probably the one that helped Skye through all of her abusive foster homes. The main reason he wanted to meet her was so that he could thank her for taking care of Skye and helping her become this amazing person that he was completely in love with.

After what seemed like forever, they finally arrived at the orphanage and Skye jumped out of the SUV, excitement bubbling off of her. She grabbed Grant's hand and dragged him up the stairs to the door.

"It's Sunday so everyone is probably out right now. Usually after church, Sister McKenna would come back here while the other nuns would take the kids to the park. Last I checked all of the kids were younger so it should just be Sister McKenna here." Skye stated as she opened the door and entered.

The silence was surprising.

"That's weird. Usually there's soft music playing or something on the TV. Sister McKenna hates complete silence. Maybe she's working in her office. Come on. But first let's put this in the kitchen." Skye said, gesturing to the baked treats.

After putting the cake and cookies on the kitchen table, the two made their way upstairs towards the office. They stopped outside her door and Skye knocked twice.

"Sister McKenna, are you in there? It's me Skye." Skye said. She waited a moment before going to open the door. Grant's secret agent senses were tingling, telling him that something was off about his whole thing. He shrugged it off, thinking he was just being paranoid.

Skye opened the door and walked in. Grant waited outside, not wanting to intrude on their privacy. He looked around the hallway and was looking at the paintings when a shrill scream echoed throughout the hallway.

Grant ran into Sister McKenna's office and called for Skye.

"Back here. HURRY!" came a reply from the back of the office. He made his way back there and what he saw made his stomach drop.

Sister McKenna lay on the floor, blood pooling around her from a long knife that was stabbed into her abdomen and came out her back. Skye had turned her and placed her head in her lap, sobbing as she held Sister McKenna.

"Sister, it's me Skye. Please open your eyes." Skye pleaded as tears kept poring down her face. Sister McKenna eyes fluttered and slowly, she opened her eyes and saw Skye.

"Skye…my dear, you have grown so much." Came the hoarse reply.

"Don't worry Sister. You'll be okay. Grant we need to take her to the hospital." She said frantically. Grant pulled out his phone to call 911 but Sister McKenna stopped him.

"No…Skye my child, my time has come. I'm ready to meet my Lord. But you need to go. Some people came a-and they wanted to-to know where you were. They got into my computer and took all the information in it. I tried to stop them but couldn't. You have to stay safe okay?" Sister McKenna said, coughing up blood as she finished. She locked eyes with Grant. "I know you love her. Promise me you will keep her safe."

"I promise. I won't let anything happen to her." Grant stated firmly, tears pricking at his eyes.

"Sister…please…don't leave me." Skye begged brokenly.

Sister McKenna smiled softly up at her.

"I will always be with you Skye. Never forget that. Always remember…God is Love." Sister McKenna said, her eyes closing as she breathed her last.

"Sister McKenna, Sister…no no no…Sister, wake up. Please wake up. This isn't funny. Look, I made you your favorite chocolate cake and everything. We were supposed to spend your birthday together. I know you're mad at me for missing your birthday last year but I'm here now. I'm sorry I wasn't here last year. Please don't punish me for that. Please, please, please wake up. Please wake up!" Skye begged desperately, heart-wrenching sobs shaking her body. Grant looked at the sight in front of him, his heart breaking.

"Skye…" He whispered trying to comfort the distraught girl.

"No!" Skye yanked her arm away. "She promised that she would always be there for me. She can't just leave me like this. She has to wake up." Skye shrieked, shaking Sister McKenna's shoulders, begging her to wake up, to open her eyes.

Grant couldn't take the pain in Skye's voice anymore and pulled her to his chest, trying to calm her down. She sobbed into his chest, her hands still clutching the nun's cold hand. "Please come back to me." She whispered over and over. Grant held Skye tightly to his chest, rubbing circles in her back, whispering comforting words in her ear, but it did nothing to ease her pain. Just then, Grant felt the floor beneath him shake and tremble. " _Earthquake"_ he thought in horror.

"Skye, we need to take cover. Earthquake." Grant said, trying to get Skye to move.

"No! I can't leave her like this Grant." Skye said, clutching Sister McKenna tighter to her.

Grant took her face in his hands and forced her to look into his eyes.

"Baby, look at me. This is a massive earthquake and if we don't take cover right now, then this whole building will come down on top of us." He softened his tone. "Sister McKenna wouldn't want you to endanger your life like this." He watched as tears welled up in her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time and she gave a slight nod. Grant quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the office, down the stairs and out the front door. Skye managed to catch a glimpse of the kitchen on their way out and let out a sob when she saw the cake and cookies sitting on the countertop. The two emerged from the building and ran into front yard, away from any falling debris. Seconds later, the orphanage shook again and this time, part of the roof caved in. Skye let out a scream as piece by piece, the building collapsed.

Grant looked at the ruins of the St. Agnes orphanage in shock. He pulled a kicking and screaming Skye towards the car and away from the building, preventing her from running back into the building. Once inside the car, Skye finally collapsed in her seat and curled up into a ball, tears silently streaming down her face.

Grant looked on, his heart clenching in pain at the sight of the broken girl in front if him. He pulled out his phone and pressed two on his speed dial.

"Sir, we have a problem, a big one. Get to St. Agnes as fast as you can."

 **AN: You guys like it? Thought the fluff in the beginning might lighten up the mood after last chapter. I promise it will continue to get better. Once again, PLEASE REVIEW! I can't read your minds so the only way for me to know whether or not you guys like it is if you REVIEW! Please do as they motivate me to write.**

 **Also, I do not own Sister McKenna. She is mentioned in 'Repairs' when Skye is talking to Hannah Hutchins through the door to the Cage.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hi guys! First off, Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great New Year and holiday. I'm sorry for the late update. I was celebrating the holidays with my family so I wasn't able to update. Thank you for reviewing and motivating me to continue writing this story. Here is Chapter 8! Hope you like it and PLEASE REVIEW! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.**

When Agent Coulson arrived at St. Agnes with Fitzsimmons after receiving Agent Ward's urgent call, he did not expect to find the orphanage in complete ruins.

The entire orphanage was completely destroyed. Large chunks of rubble and debris replaced the normal three-story brick building that was always present. Local authorities and three clean up crews were working to clear up the rubble.

"Oh my goodness! What happened here?" Simmons breathed in shock

"It was an earthquake. A really big one." Fitz said, grabbing Jemma's hand, offering silent comfort.

Coulson looked around for Skye and Ward and caught sight of the SUV sitting on the other side of the street.

"Go make sure that Skye and Ward are okay. I'll call a S.H.I.E.L.D. clean up crew to get this cleaned up faster." He said, pulling out his phone.

Simmons rushed over to the SUV. As she got closer, Fitz hot on her heels, they stopped in front of the back door and paused at the muffled sobs coming in from inside. The tinted windows prevents them from looking inside so Simmons slowly opened the door and stopped at the sight in front of her.

Skye was curled into a ball and was sobbing into Ward's chest.

"Skye…" Simmons whispered, slowly getting into the SUV.

Skye looked up at her with puffy eyes. "Jemma…" she whispered before launching herself into her best friend's arms. Jemma held on tightly to the shaking girl and shot a questioning look at Ward. " _What on earth had happened?"_ she thought.

Ward simply shook his head sadly. Seeing that Jemma was fine with comforting Skye, he quietly got out of the car and made his way around to where Fitz and Coulson were standing.

"Ward, what the hell happened here?" Coulson asked.

Ward took a deep breath before telling them what had happened when they arrived at the orphanage.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Fitz and Coulson stood there stunned.

"Poor Skye. No wonder she's devastated. She just lost the only mother figure she had ever had. Not only that, she just saw her get crushed underneath the building." Fitz said, his Scottish accent coming out thick, concern lacing his tone.

"She hasn't stopped crying and I can't get her to calm down." Ward said, running a hand through his hair.

Just then, Simmons stepped out of the SUV and slowly closed the door.

"What's wrong? Is Skye okay?" Ward asked frantically.

"She was crying so much that it became difficult for her to breathe. She started hyperventilating and she would have passed out. I had to give her a sedative from the emergency kit in the car to calm her down. She's sleeping right now and should be asleep for the next several hours." Simmons said, glancing back at the SUV.

Ward made his way over to check on Skye while Fitz told Simmons everything that had happened.

Tears welled up in Jemma's eyes as she heard what had happened.

"Oh Fitz, she was so excited to meet Sister McKenna. Who would do such a thing?" she cried.

"I don't know Jem. But we will find out." Fitz responded. Simmons continued to cry silently and Fitz wrapped his arms around her, trying to stop his own tears from falling.

Coulson stood off to the side and considered everything that Ward had told him. Someone was after Skye. They killed an innocent woman to get to her. _We will protect her. She has been alone all her life, but not anymore._ He looked back at the SUV where Skye was currently unconscious and made a silent vow to him that he will do everything he can to protect her.

* * *

Three hours later, the clean up crew had managed to clear up all of the big pieces of rubble. Simmons was sitting in the SUV with Skye while Ward, Fitz, and he were going through the smaller pieces of rubble; trying to look for anything the assailants may have left behind.

"Coulson, check this out." Ward called.

Coulson made his way over to where the specialist was standing. Fitz also slowly made his way to them. As Coulson got closer, he could see pieces of a computer in Ward's hands.

"These are pieces from Sister McKenna's computer. She said that some people took information from her computer. Fitz, do you think you can dig up something from this?" Ward asked as he held the computer's hard drive up, surprisingly in tact.

"Yeah, I can probably find something. If they were in a rush, then they may have forgotten to delete the files from the computer." Fitz said as he took the drive from Ward's hand and began examining it.

Ward continued looking when a thought struck him.

"Sir, what about the other orphans and nuns that live here? Their home is destroyed." Ward said looking at Coulson.

"Don't worry. S.H.I.E.L.D. is arranging to have them all sent to a safe house in San Diego, away from here. They'll be under S.H.I.E.L.D. protection until we find the people responsible for killing Sister McKenna."

Ward nodded; glad that the other orphans would still have a place to live.

The three continued searching for a while before Fitz called them over.

"Is it just me or do you guys think it's strange how this was the only building that went down in the earthquake? I mean, there are several buildings and homes nearby that could have also suffered some damage but it was very minimal. The most damage reported from anyone was broken household items from the shaking. No other house or building was damaged. But St. Agnes was turned into complete rubble. How is that possible?" Fitz asked, twirling his fingers about, trying to come up with an answer.

Ward and Coulson looked at each other, trying to come up with an answer.

"Well, whatever it is…we'll find it. We will make them pay for what they did." Coulson said determinedly.

* * *

Several hours later, the team was back on the Bus. Skye, thankfully was still unconscious. Whatever Simmons gave her was working like a charm. The poor girl needed to get as much rest as she could. Ward had told the team a general gist of what had happened in Skye's past. He left out the ugly details, just told them that Skye was abused severely growing up and that Sister McKenna was there for her the whole time.

Earlier, as the clean up crew finished up, some paramedics pulled out a body from the rubble. Protocol required that they needed someone to identify the body. Ward point-blank refused to put Skye through that pain again and identified the body of Sister McKenna himself.

Back in the lab, Fitzsimmons were working to find out anything they could from the hard drive that was recovered. Simmons was studying the buildings blueprints to try and figure out what caused the building to collapse in the earthquake.

Simmons pulled up the building's schematics on the holotable and started twirling bits and pieces around. Fitz was sitting in the corner, surrounded by three computers, trying to find out what was on that hard drive. Coulson was standing off to the side watching the two scientists work. Ward was sitting with a still sleeping Skye, waiting for her to wake up and May was in the cockpit.

"Fitz…look at this." Simmons said, looking at the holotable. "This building was in perfect condition before the earthquake. There was no flaw in the construction and the structure was completely intact, not a crack anywhere. How could it have been completely demolished in the earthquake? Something isn't adding up here."

Fitz was about to speak when the lab doors slid open and Skye, Ward, and May entered. May had an arm protectively around Skye's shoulder. The two women seemed to have gotten closer together after Skye was ill with dengue.

Skye looked ahead, eyes bloodshot from crying. She looked behind Fitz towards the computers and made her way over there.

"Skye…are you…" Fitz started.

"No. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that the ones responsible for this are punished. Sister McKenna died protecting me. I'm going to make sure that she didn't die in vain." Skye said firmly, taking Fitz place by the computer as she started working her magic. The rest of the team looked on, worried about how she was coping with everything. Coulson looked towards Ward for some answers but he just shook his head. No matter the circumstances, Skye still possessed her stubborn streak.

* * *

Skye spent about 20 minutes working on the hard drive, trying to find something that could be useful. She searched in every possible file, folder, and document for anything on herself that the attackers could have found useful.

Skye suddenly slammed her hands down on the table and let out a frustrated scream, startling everyone in the lab. "Ugh…there is nothing here. Absolutely nothing. It's like I didn't even exist. I know this system like the back of my hand. Before I left, I copied all of the information about me onto another drive. But it was only one document, the redacted file by S.H.I.E.L.D. As a backup, I used encrypted software and hid the document in this computer. The only way to access it was to break the encryption. There are only a handful of hackers that are skilled enough to break this encryption." Skye said, eyes hardening in anger. She couldn't believe that one of her fellow Rising Tide hackers killed Sister McKenna to get to her.

"Do you know of any hackers that could break the encryption?" Coulson asked seriously.

"Miles was one of them, but he's being monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. so he out. As far as I know, there are only five other hackers that could pull this off. One of them, Jacob Wilton, was killed in an accident not too long ago. Lacey Hart, the only other female that can break this encryption is pregnant, last I heard from her. The other hackers are Justin Smith, Greg Patterson, and Luke Johnson."

"Fitz, trace the whereabouts of Mr. Smith, Patterson, and Johnson. Find anything and everything you can on them. Check any cameras near the orphanage and see what you find. I want a location on these three as soon as possible." Coulson demanded. Fitz nodded and began furiously typing away on the computer.

"Ward, Skye, I want to see the two of you in my office." Coulson said as he made his way out of the lab. Grant and Skye looked at each other for a moment before following their commanding officer upstairs.

* * *

Ward and Skye were seated in front of Coulson's desk, waiting for him to speak.

Coulson took a deep breath before beginning. "Skye, just a while ago, Director Fury gave me access to your redacted file."

"Really? What did it say? Does it say anything about my parents? Or my real name? Where I'm from?..."

"Skye!" Coulson interrupted her rant loudly. "The file…the information in it…you may not like it." He said softly.

Skye looked up at him. "And I told you that it can't be worse than what I've imagined." She said, tightly gripping onto Grant's hand. He squeezed hers in response.

Coulson nodded. "Twenty-five years ago, there was a disturbance reported in the Hunan Province in China. S.H.I.E.L.D. sent in a team to investigate and they discovered an 0-8-4. The lead agent, Agent Linda Avery and her team arrived at the scene to see the village completely massacred. They searched for survivors and they only found two. The old village healer and a baby girl asleep in her arms. She had been stabbed through the stomach…" Coulson paused as he saw Skye flinch, recalling the death of Sister McKenna. "She was still alive when Agent Avery got to her and she thrust the baby into her arms. According to the report, the healer managed to tell Avery that the ones who attacked the village were after the baby girl. She asked Avery to protect her and do whatever it takes to keep her safe before she died.

"So wait…the baby girl was the 0-8-4?" Skye asked confused. Coulson nodded and Skye motioned for him to continue.

"Agent Avery and her team cleaned up everything and left China the next day. Agent Avery kept you with her for about a month before everything happened. Slowly, the agents that went in to retrieve the 0-8-4 with her were being crossed off. Eventually, Avery was the only one remaining. She was killed two days after she found out the rest of her team was killed."

"What happened to the 0-8-4?" Grant asked tentatively.

"Before she died…Agent Avery dropped the baby girl off at an orphanage. St. Agnes." Coulson said slowly, looking at Skye as he finished.

Skye inhaled sharply. "I-I'm the 0-8-4? You're telling me that an entire village in China was slaughtered because they were trying to protect me? An entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team was killed for rescuing me?" Skye asked astonished, tears welling up in her eyes.

Coulson's eyes softened and he slowly nodded. Skye let out a choked sob. Grant was comforting her in an instant. Skye buried her face in his chest and shook with silent sobs.

After Skye had managed to regain her composure, sort of…, she looked back at Coulson. "So now what? Whoever killed all those villagers is back and wants me now?"

Coulson looked hesitant for a second but then thought that she deserved to know the truth.

"We believe so. Due to your 0-8-4 status, you could have unknown powers, abilities, or who knows what. S.H.I.E.L.D. made sure that you were transferred to various foster homes, not staying in one place for too long. It was all for your safety. We wanted to protect you from whatever or whoever wanted to capture you. They killed innocent people to get to you. You're special Skye. And we don't want someone to get a hold of you and experiment on you to discover your abilities." Coulson said earnestly.

Skye looked up at him surprised. "So you won't send me to the Sandbox or somewhere to be tested on like a lab rat?"

"No. This information stays between us here on the Bus and Director Fury. Not even Commander Hill knows about this. It is imperative that it stay this way." Coulson stated firmly.

Skye nodded, relieved that she wouldn't have to leave the Bus. "So did the file say anything about my parents?" she asked curiously.

Coulson froze. This was one bit of information that he wanted to keep away from her. He knew the answer to her question and knew it would hurt her. _But it will hurt her even more if it is kept from her and she finds out later._

"Please AC. I need to know. Please…?" She pleaded, her doe eyes wide.

"Skye…there was information there regarding your parents. Your mother was a Chinese woman. Her name was Shu."

"Shu…warmhearted." Skye said softly. At Coulson and Ward confused stares she added "I wanted to learn Mandarin in high school before I dropped out. Did some Google translating."

"Where is she?" Skye asked.

"She was killed in the attack on the village. I'm sorry Skye." Coulson said, hating himself for causing the young woman more pain.

Sky blinked back tears. Tears for the mother that would never hold her, hug her, tell her that everything was okay.

"What-what about my father? Is he also dead?" Skye asked uncertainly.

"Your father…well…you see…" Coulson stumbled with his words.

"Spit it out already AC." Skye snapped.

"Your father isn't human. We believe that he is from a different world. We don't quite know who or what he is yet, but we know for a fact that he is not of this Earth." Coulson said hesitantly, studying Skye's expression.

Skye blinked. Once, twice, a third time. She was frozen in place.

Grant grasped her hand, concerned at her behavior. "Skye…? You okay?" He asked, gently shaking her shoulder.

Skye jumped in her seat and looked at the two agents. "I'm half alien…?" She whispered in shock.

Grant reached for her again. "Skye, that doesn't change anything about you. You are still beautiful, smart, stubborn, and amazing. I don't care if you're half alien or even all alien. You are Skye, my Skye and that's all that matters to me. I love you for who you are, not what you are. You being half alien doesn't change my feelings for you and it won't change anyone else's. For Fitzsimmons, you are still the same little sister they never had. For Coulson, you're still practically like a daughter to him. And regardless of how you feel, May will still care a great deal for you too." Grant said, cupping her face in his hands.

Skye closed her eyes as tears silently streamed down her face and buried herself in Grant's embrace. "I love you." She whispered.

Grant held her tighter. "I love you too." He whispered back, placing a kiss on her temple.

Coulson squirmed uncomfortably at his desk as he watched his two agents hug. He knew he would be interrupting their little moment but he really did not want to see them sucking each other's face off soon. He finally cleared his throat and watched with an amused smirk as they pulled apart and looked back at him.

"Ward's right Skye. You being half-alien changes nothing. For us, you are still our awesome little hacker.

Skye gave a small smile in response.

"Okay, well that's all for now. I'll let you know if I find any more information concerning your father. We should head down to the lab to see what Fitzsimmons have found regarding the three hackers." Coulson said, standing up from his desk and making his way outside, Skye and Ward following.

* * *

Down in the lab, Fitzsimmons were running around like headless chickens. Coulson, Skye, and Ward entered the lab to hear incessant talking, clicking, and tapping of keys.

"What have you guys found?" Coulson asked getting right down to business.

"Oh sir you will never believe it…"

"Seriously, it's truly genius…"

"But also quite diabolical…"

"No but if you look at the positive angle of it…"

"TIMEOUT!" Coulson shouted. "Try that again…one by one." He said, looking at Simmons.

She began talking immediately. "Well, studying the building's schematics and blueprints, it was already a mystery as to why only the orphanage was damaged and nothing else. Well the answer was in fact quite simple."

Fitz took over. "A man-made device caused the earthquake. Digging deeper…"

"Wait, you're telling me that someone made a machine to cause earthquakes…?" Grant asked shocked. Fitz nodded.

"Why on Asgard would someone create such a device?" Coulson asked.

"As I was saying, I dug deeper and found that this was a failed experiment from 12 years ago. A European science and technology firm wanted to create fake earthquakes to help with the construction of sturdier buildings that can withstand much more pressure. While the initial intent of it was for the greater good, it turned out to be a really bad idea. Apparently, they thought that all of their calculations were perfect and accurate so they decided to test their theory. They were completely positive that nothing would go wrong so they went ahead and did it. They decided to experiment on a residential apartment building off the coast of Chile because it was in the Ring of Fire and it was completely catastrophic. Over 500 people were killed and about 100 were wounded. The building collapsed completely, much like St. Agnes did. Rather then shake and tremble like a building would in a normal earthquake, it shook hard, much like an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5-6 and then collapsed." Fitz said, anger filling him. How could people use science to kill hundreds of people? He actually found the idea quite brilliant, but it killed so many innocent people. Sure, he designed weapons and artillery but it was used to protect innocent people. He felt Jemma's hand on his shoulder and instantly relaxed. He knew that she was probably feeling the same thing right now.

Skye on the other hand was shaking as she remembered the earthquake at the orphanage. The earthquake that destroyed the home she had growing up and killed the woman she considered a mother.

Grant looked at her heartbroken and silently pulled her into his arms.

Coulson looked at his team at abruptly changed to topic to another important one.

"Fitz, you can continue looking into this device some more in a bit. But did you guys find any information on out three suspects?" Coulson asked. Skye immediately jerked up and stood tall, Grant next to her.

Simmons jumped to answer. "Actually, we did sir. We got a hit on all three. Justin Smith's location was traced to Salem, Oregon and Luke Johnson's location was found about three away from here. Greg Patterson's location was traced to an address in Miami, Florida."

"This seems like something Luke would do." Skye said angrily.

"Why's that?" Coulson asked.

"He was always jealous of me. He didn't think that I was skilled enough to hack into the secure servers of higher up businesses. But then I hacked into Tony Stark's server without him knowing and just ended up pissing Luke off even more. He made a fool of himself in front of several other Rising Tide members for doubting me and got mad. He swore to me that he would ruin me for destroying his reputation. I blew it off thinking it was just an empty threat. Three days later, you guys found me." Skye said, smiling softly at Coulson and Grant.

"I'll tell May to set a course for Mr. Johnson's location." Coulson stated, making his way out of the lab., leaving the four younger agents in the lab.

Simmons dropped what she was doing and made her way over to Skye.

"Skye, I promise that we will do whatever it takes to find out who did this. You're not alone in this. You have us, we're family." She said, wrapping her arms around Skye. Skye hugged her back tightly, tears leaking out of her eyes again.

"GROUP HUG!" Fitz yelled, pulling a reluctant Grant with him and wrapping his arms around Simmons, resting his hands on Skye's shoulders. Grant did the same from Skye's side and rested his hands on Fitz's shoulders, pinching him hard for dragging him into a group hug.

Skye smiled in the tight embrace of her friends and for the first time, she felt at home. This was where she belonged. _"I have a family."_ She thought happily.

 **AN: Well, how'd you guys like that? I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter just as much as the others if not more. I'm sorry it took this long but school has started up again so updates may take a while longer. I promise that I will try to update as much as possible though. PLEASE REVIEW! :)**

 ******The earthquake machine was an idea I got from the show Arrow. Those of you that have seen it, you know what it is. Those of you who haven't, it was shown in the TV show Arrow and it was a device that created a HUGE earthquake. I tweaked it a bit and made it miniaturized. ******


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hi guys! Here is chapter 9 for you! I'm so sorry for the late update. The past few weeks have been extremely hectic with midterms, finals, and a bunch of other school stuff. I finally managed to get a break this weekend so I was finally able to update. Thank you all for the amazing reviews and please, please, please continue to REVIEW!**

"Wheels down in 30." Came May's voice over the intercom.

The team was preparing to meet with Luke Johnson after they had discovered his location only three hours from the orphanage.

All throughout the trip, Skye felt anger coursing through her veins. How could Luke do something like this? All she ever wanted, all any Rising Tide hacker wanted was the freedom of information. Anything and everything that she ever hacked was to find information that the people deserved to know. Luke on the other hand, he was always jealous of her. He was constantly pushing her buttons, making her look bad in front of her friends, and was always competitive when it came to hacking. He wanted to be the best. Ever since he learned that Skye could hack into Tony Stark's servers faster than he can, he's always hated her. She just never believed that he would stoop to the level of harming those close to her. She didn't want any of the team going near him if he was really as dangerous as he seems. If he was the one that caused the quake at the orphanage, then there will be hell to pay.

Grant looked over at Skye, watching, as her eyes were hard with anger. He wasn't much better himself. He could feel the rage of the Berserker staff rushing through his veins. All he wanted at the moment was to find Luke Johnson and pummel the living daylights out of him for hurting Skye. He took away the only mother figure Skye had had her entire life, just because he was jealous of her skills. Oh, Luke Johnson was in for a world of pain when Grant got his hands on him. Grant reached over and gently grasped Skye's small hand in his own, letting her know that he was there for her. Skye smiled and squeezed his hand in response.

* * *

25 minutes later, the team was buckled in as May landed the Bus. As soon as they had touched down, Skye unbuckled and made her way towards the cargo hold, wanting to get Luke as fast as she could. She felt two hands grab her arms and pull her back as she was about to go down the cargo ramp. Skye turned to find Grant and Coulson looking down at her.

"Skye, you will stay here on the Bus with Fitzsimmons. May, Ward, and I will go and retrieve Mr. Johnson." Coulson said.

"What?! No way are you leaving me behind. Coulson, Luke is completely unpredictable. He stabbed Sister McKenna and left her to die just to get back at me. Who knows what he could do to you guys. You have to let me come with you." Skye said firmly.

Coulson went to speak again, but May stopped him.

"I think Skye's right. She can go with you and Ward and I'll say here and run communications with Fitzsimmons." May said to the group. She then turned her head to the side and quietly spoke to Coulson, making sure that no one else could hear her. "She thinks it's her fault that Sister McKenna died and it will only make her feel worse if you leave her here. She needs the closure. The only way she will get that is if she sees Johnson in custody with her own two eyes." May said sternly. Coulson looked at her for a moment before nodding and making his way to the SUV where Skye and Ward were already waiting. He slid into the passenger seat and Ward pulled out of the cargo hold.

Ten minutes later, the three agents arrived at a pretty run down apartment complex. They climbed out of the car and made their way up towards Johnson's apartment. Coulson rang the doorbell and a moment later it opened, revealing the face of Luke Johnson.

As soon as Skye saw his face, she snapped. Before she knew it, she had launched herself at Luke and was hitting him wherever she could. Ward and Coulson pulled her off but not before she did some damage. Once Ward managed to calm down Skye, Coulson made his way over to Luke and roughly yanked him up. He was sporting a nice and shiny black eye, a busted lip, a bleeding nose,….and was he missing a tooth?!

"Who the hell are you?" He asked angrily, looking at the two agents before his eyes fell on Skye. "Skye…what are you doing here? And why did you punch me?" He asked stupidly.

"You bastard!" She went to punch him again but Ward tightly wrapped his arm around her waist and held her to him. "Why did you kill Sister McKenna? What did she ever do to you? It's me you hate right? Then you should have come after me! Why did you kill an innocent person who did absolutely nothing to deserve that? You stabbed her through the stomach and left her to die you monster!" Skye screamed at him, pain and anger flowing through her. She along with Grant was feeling the effects of the Berserker staff come back to life.

"What? I never killed anyone! Skye you know me! Would I ever do something like this?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"Yes you would! You've always hated the fact that I could hack better than you. You've always hated me!"

"That's different Skye! I would never kill anyone to get back at you." Luke said, trying to make Skye believe him.

"You're the only one that can do such a thing. After Sister McKenna died, there was an earthquake and in that the entire orphanage collapsed into ruins. We managed to pull out the hard drive to her computer intact and after looking through it, I found that all of the information I had stored on there about myself was gone. I locked it with an encryption that only five other people could break. You, Justin, Greg, Lacey and Jacob were the only ones that could do it. Lacey is pregnant, Jacob is dead, and Justin and Greg are too far away from here. You are the only one that can possibly do it. You attacked Sister McKenna, stabbed her when she refused to give you my information, got into her computer, took all the information there was on me, deleted it, and left, leaving Sister McKenna to die. You are a murderer." Skye said harshly, eyes hard with anger. Grant was standing next to her with his hand twitching, trying his hardest to remain professional and not beat the shit out of the guys standing in front of him.

"Are you crazy!? I never did that! I've been home all day today!" Luke cried.

"That's enough. We'll discuss this when we get back to the Bus. Mr. Luke Johnson, you're under arrest for suspected assault and murder." Coulson said, cuffing Luke's hands behind his back and dragging him out towards the car.

"What?! No I didn't kill her. Skye, please believe me! I never killed Sister McKenna! I don't even know her. Why would I kill someone I don't even know?" Luke said frantically as he was put into the car.

Grant couldn't take it any longer and pulled out his Night-Night Gun and shot him in the face, effectively shutting him up.

Coulson and Skye stared at him shocked.

"You're lucky I didn't use my hands." He said before getting in. Skye climbed in behind him and came around and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, whispering a 'thanks' before sitting back down. Ward smiled and started the car.

* * *

Back on the Bus, Johnson was unconscious in the interrogation room while everyone else was in the Command Center.

"Did you really have to shoot him with the Night-Night Gun? We could have been halfway done with the interrogation by now!" Coulson said exasperated.

"He wouldn't shut up! And the longer he's unconscious, the longer he's alive. The moment he wakes up, my fists are going to dance all over his face." Ward said seriously.

Skye bit her lip. She didn't want Grant going all Berserker staff again and accidentally kill Luke. Though she wanted to believe that Luke had indeed killed Sister McKenna with all her heart, a little tiny part of her believed him. Maybe he really didn't kill her. She was broken out of her thoughts at Coulson's voice.

"Ward for the last time, you are not interrogating him. We need him alive to find out why he did this." Coulson said, frustrated with his agent.

"Maybe that's not a bad idea." Skye said. Ward turned to her, eyes wide with confusion. "Maybe you should sit this one out. Also…" she said, turning to the rest of the group. "…maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he really didn't kill Sister McKenna. I've known him for years. I know that he is a liar and manipulative, but I honestly think that he's telling the truth." Skye said.

Everyone looked at her in shock. Coulson was about to respond but a glare from May silenced him.

"We can discuss this tomorrow morning. It's late right now and you all should go get some rest." May said firmly, not leaving room to argue.

Skye suddenly felt the weight of the entire day catch up to her. She managed to grab the edge of the holotable to keep from falling over. She felt Grant wrap an arm around her waist and help keep her upright.

"You're right. We can't really do much now. Night." Skye said, leaving the Command Center with Grant in a tow, Fitzsimmons following them.

* * *

Once the younger agents had left, May cornered Coulson as he was about to leave.

"Do you think Johnson is telling the truth?"

Coulson sighed heavily. "Honestly…I don't know. I mean, he seems freaked out by this whole thing and Skye says that he maybe didn't do this. But with everything going on right now, I think its all catching up to her. I don't know if Johnson was the one who killed Sister McKenna, but whoever is will be put through hell for making Skye go through that pain." Coulson said firmly.

May gave a small smile and nodded before making her way out.

"Good night Phil!" she called over her smiled at that before turning off the holotable and making his way up to his bunk.

* * *

Down in the lab, Fitzsimmons stood silently together. Throughout the day, they were constantly surrounded by the rest of the team, not being able to really talk alone.

Fitz began powering down the dwarves and Simmons began turning off the computers before sitting down in a stool, sighing loudly.

"Simmons, you ok?"

"Oh Fitz, Skye is absolutely devastated. You know how she was talking about Sister McKenna. She positively adored her and now…she's gone. Oh I don't know how Skye could be dealing with this. Back at the orphanage, she wouldn't stop crying. She kept whispering for Sister McKenna to come back. I-I…" Simmons couldn't finish and burst into tears. Fitz went around to her and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly to his chest and rubbed a hand up and down her back, trying to offer some comfort.

Soon after Simmons' soft sobs subsided, he pulled back and grasped her shoulders gently.

"Jemma, I promise you that we will do whatever it takes to make whoever did this pay. They hurt Skye, so much that it may haunt her forever. But once we get our hands on them, they will pay severely. I promise Jem. They hurt my baby sister and they will suffer for it." Fitz said, calmly yet hardly. Simmons looked up at him and nodded with a small smile, admiring the way he stood up for Skye and loving how he looked at her like a baby sister.

"You're right! We won't let them get away. I'll shoot them with the Night-Night Gun myself and use them as test subjects for new weaponry. Can you imagine having human subjects to test the new effects of the latest Night-Night Gun? I mean after we get the dose of the dendrotoxin right and ensure no permanent brain damage that it."

"Are you kidding? That would be awesome. Seeing them react to the dendrotoxin can give us a much more accurate diagnostic of the proper dose of the dendrotoxin. And as for brain damage, they deserve much more than that for putting Skye through hell and back." Fitz said, already thinking of ways to put those bastards through hell with his extensive scientific and engineering knowledge.

Simmons smiled at him, enjoying how passionate he got about certain ideas. She turned back to the machines and finished turning them off before making her way to the lab doors, Fitz following behind. The two made their way up the stairs and stopped in front of her bunk.

"Good night Fitz." Simmons said, placing a kiss on his cheek before entering her bunk.

Fitz stood outside her door for a couple minutes, touching his face where she had kissed him. Slowly he smiled and then made his way to his own bunk, a large goofy grin present on his face.

* * *

 **AN: I'm sorry I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others but I promise the next one will be longer. I wanted to include a bit of Philinda and Fitzsimmons so I really hope you enjoyed those. Please don't forget to REVIEW! Reviews are my motivation. If you guys don't review, then I will not be motivated to write more. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hi guys! Here is Chapter 10 for you all! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter as well as the tad bit of Fitzsimmons and Philinda moments. Also, this chapter will have a short time skip. I am so sorry for the delay but I have been extremely busy and I really wanted to make this chapter good for you all. Please REVIEW! Thanks! :)**

It had been over a week since Sister McKenna's death and since then, Skye had regressed into a former shell of herself. She stopped making as many jokes, stopped smiling and being her sarcastic self and her behavior was worrying the entire team. Yesterday, Skye and Simmons were in the lab when Fitz came in excited about his latest creation. He was so excited he fell over the stool sitting at the table, slipped as he was trying to get up, and even pulled Simmons down with him when she tried to help him up. Skye let out a quiet laugh before leaving the lab. After she had left, Simmons let silent tears fall.

"Fitz, I hate seeing her like this. She's almost broken. On any other day, she would have been on the floor laughing so hard she wouldn't be able to breathe. But now, she…I…" Simmons broke off, looking at Fitz with a helpless gaze.

"She's going to be fine Simmons. She just needs some time. She saw the closest mother figure she had get killed and then crushed by a building. She's not going to bounce back to her bubbly self in a week. It's going to take some time and we'll give her as much as she needs." Fitz said confidently, pulling his partner into a gentle hug.

"You're right. And she actually laughed today. She's been so depressed and upset lately. She stopped talking and everything recently. But Fitz she finally laughed!" Simmons squealed happily.

"I saw! I'm sure we'll have our sister back with us soon enough!" Fitz said smiling.

"Now about why I was excited, I was thinking that we enhance the propulsions in the new grenade design…." Fitz began talking animatedly about his latest creation while Simmons smiled at his enthusiasm.

* * *

Up in the lounge, Ward was 'reading' a book while Skye was typing away on her laptop, trying to find out anything she could about who attacked Sister McKenna. She had been working non-stop the past week and it was beginning to take a toll on her. Her eyes were constantly bloodshot with dark circles present under them. Her complexion had changed from her vibrant olive tone to a pale white. Her humor had shrunk and he hated that. He missed his funny, bubbly, and passionate rookie. He wanted to hear her laugh all the time, smile at the smallest things, and spontaneously sing all throughout the Bus.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by an inhuman growl. He turned to see Skye looking like she wanted to throttle the life out of her computer.

"Why can't I find anything? How can someone cover their tracks so well? I have tried every single program in existence for facial recognition, to try and see if there was anyone near the orphanage from the footage of the nearby traffic cameras. I also looked up anything and everything on the other four hackers that could hack into my encryption and came up completely empty-handed. Why can't I find anything? I have to find something!" Skye was beginning to get hysterical and Grant immediately grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look at him.

"Skye…" he said softly. "…look at me." She turned to look at him with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"I feel like I'm betraying her by not finding out who did this." She whispered brokenly before letting her floodgates open and began sobbing into his chest. He just held her tighter and slowly rocked her back and forth.

Some time later, after Skye had cried out any tears she had left, she raised her head from Grant's chest and looked at the large wet spot her tears had made.

"Sorry about your shirt." She said sheepishly.

Grant smiled softly. "I don't care about the shirt. I care about you Skye. I'm here for you for whatever you need. But before anything else, you need to know that what happened with Sister McKenna was not your fault. It was whoever attacked her and theirs alone. And Skye, whoever they are, they are probably pretty skilled hackers. But they are not the best as you. All you need is some time. After a while, you'll probably…no definitely come up with a way to track them. Not only that, but Sister McKenna would not feel betrayed by this. I actually think that this would hurt her. She would be hurt by the fact that you have been neglecting to take care of yourself. Do you think she would want you to spend all night crying? Or not eating and not being yourself? How do you think Sister McKenna would feel if she saw you like this?" Grant asked, trying to make her see sense.

Skye was overwhelmed with guilt. She had been so absorbed in trying to find Sister McKenna's assailants that she hadn't been taking care of herself. She wasn't eating, was barely sleeping being constantly plagued with nightmares, and she didn't even think about how it was affecting her team, how it was affecting Grant! Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of hurting him. She looked into his deep brown eyes and placed a kiss on his lips.

"I'm so sorry Grant. I was so focused on getting these guys that I didn't even think about how my behavior might be affecting you guys." She said guiltily.

"Please don't apologize Skye. It's not your fault. I just want you to be okay. I know that right now, you are far from okay but I'm here for you; every step of the way."

Skye's heart swelled at that. "Promise?"

"I promise. You are not getting away from me that easily." Grant said, pulling her into a passionate kiss.

* * *

It had been two weeks since then and Skye had practically blossomed back into herself. As she started getting her spunk back, she told the team that she was going to honor Sister McKenna's memory happily, not by crying her eyes out every night.

Since then, the team's mood had also brightened. Just yesterday, Coulson saw proof of that with his own eyes.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Coulson had left his office to grab a snack from the kitchen when her heard screams and shouting. Automatically thinking the worst, he grabbed an ICER from his jacket pocket and swiftly made his way to the kitchen. The sight in front of him was truly mind-boggling._

 _The four youngest members of the team were literally covered head to toe in flour. And, his kitchen; his beautiful and pristine kitchen was covered in flour too._

" _WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Coulson boomed, making the younger agents, minus Ward, jump._

 _Skye and Simmons immediately began fidgeting, Fitz was twirling his fingers, and Ward just stood there with his poker face._

" _Well…. someone say something! Why are you guys covered in flour and more importantly…why is my kitchen a complete mess? Coulson practically yelled._

 _Simmons decided to speak up before their CO got too angry._

" _Well sir, you see, the thing is, Skye and I were talking about pie and how there were different way to make the crust, with flour, graham crackers…"_

 _Coulson interrupted her babbling._

" _Simmons, I don't need the entire story. Cut to the chase."_

 _Skye picked up here. "You see AC, we were just talking and then Fitz came in and began digging around for his pretzels and he knocked over the pack of flour that was on the counter."_

 _Fitz's turn. "No, tell him the truth Skye! I simply asked what they were talking about and they said 'stuff'. I just wanted a bit more detail and when I didn't leave them alone, Skye threw flour at my head."_

" _Did not!" came the indignant reply._

" _Yes you did!" Ward jumped in. "Somehow, Fitz ducked your flour bomb and it hit me as I was coming around the corner."_

 _Coulson watched as his team of highly skilled agents turned into a bunch of kids arguing over whose fault it was._

" _ENOUGH! I don't care who started it or who did what. CLEAN. IT. UP." He said, staring hardly at each agent._

" _Of course sir."_

" _Right away."_

" _Yes sir."_

" _You got it AC."_

 _Coulson nodded once before entering the kitchen, careful to keep his suit clean, grabbed a chocolate chip muffin from the pantry, and left._

 _The four agents looked at each other for a few moments before bursting out laughing._

 _As Coulson went up the stairs to his office, he couldn't help but smile as he heard his team roar with laughter. His team was going to be just fine._

 _End of flashback_

* * *

Coulson was mad. No, that was an understatement. Coulson was PISSED! After everything that had happened with Sister McKenna's death, funeral (that only Skye and Ward had attended), and trying to find her assailant, Director Fury wanted his team to go investigate a new lead concerning Centipede. Coulson had requested for some additional time to continue looking for who was behind Sister McKenna's murder, but Director Fury was adamant. Apparently, since he and his team discovered Centipede (more like Skye discovered them), he wants them to take over the investigation. And after Hong Kong and the whole incident with Chan, Director Fury made it top priority to take down the explosive organization. (Pun intended :) ) Coulson agreed that Centipede needed to be taken down but he didn't feel right abandoning their current investigation and leaving Skye wondering who killed Sister McKenna.

He ended his video conference with Director Fury and began to make is way down the stairs towards the lounge where he believed Skye would be. As he entered the lounge, he saw Skye sitting in the lounge alone, tying away on her laptop. Maybe the universe was on his side today after all. Taking a deep breath, he moved towards her. _'Please don't let her be too angry about this.' He thought anxiously._

"Skye, you have a minute?" Coulson asked tentatively.

Skye looked up at him and smiled. "Course AC. What's up?"

Coulson sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of Skye and rubbed his hands together before speaking.

"I was just on a conference call with Director Fury. He…well…we…" Coulson stammered out, not knowing how to continue.

"Let me guess. He ordered you to stop looking for Sister McKenna's attackers and gave us a new mission?" Skye asked knowingly. Coulson looked up in shock.

"How did you know?" Coulson asked, surprise evident on his face.

Skye laughed lightly. "Coulson, it's been weeks since her death. I knew that sooner or later we would have to get back on track with other missions. Honestly, I'm surprised that we were able to look into it for so long."

"And you're not angry?"

"Of course not. I want to find out who killed Sister McKenna but we're getting nowhere with what we have. Maybe looking back at this some time later will shed some light on something new. And I know that there are other important world-saving missions that we should be working on too. So what is our new mission?"

"Centipede. Which reminds me…debrief in five in the Command Center. Can you grab Ward and Fitzsimmons? I'll get May from the cockpit." Skye nodded and made her way down towards the lab where Fitzsimmons and Ward were testing out new weapons.

* * *

Five minutes later, everyone was situated in the Command Center and Coulson was going over new intel about Centipede.

"Similar to before, we had facial recognition running 24/7 and managed to get a hit on Raina." Coulson stated, pressing a few buttons on the holotable and pulling up a map.

"Canada? Why there?" Fitz asked curiously as he saw the map.

"Isolation. The northern Canadian mountain range is bleak and abandoned. Also quite dangerous. More than likely, their base is underground, making detection harder." Coulson countered.

"So we just storm their base? Will we have back-up or is it just us going in?" Ward asked, his specialist nature already coming out.

"We can't exactly storm their base as we have no idea where it is. But facial recognition images show Raina leaving the base every two-three days and going to a hotel up in Yellowknife near the Great Slave Lake. We park the Bus at a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in the Northwest Territories and go by car. We follow Raina to the base and then with a proper strike team, we take it down." Coulson stated firmly.

The rest of the team nodded in agreement, excitement buzzing in the air.

"Get some rest. We land in 7 hours." Coulson said before leaving the Command Center.

* * *

Six and a half hours later, the team was once again gathered in the Command Center going over the final details of the plan.

"Skye and Ward, you two will check into the Explorer Hotel. Book a room and Skye, I want complete access to all of the hotel's cameras as well as any nearby traffic cameras." Skye and Ward nodded.

"Fitzsimmons, you will hold the fort down here. The Bus will be on COMPLETE lockdown. You will not leave unless Agents May, Ward, or myself tell you to open the Bus. Is that understood?" Coulson asked sternly.

Fitzsimmons nodded yet looked confused. Simmons decided to speak up. "Um…sir, why do we need to have the Bus on complete lockdown at a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. facility? I'm sure that the Canadian base is more than secure."

"I know that. And I'm sure that the base is extremely secure. But, with everything that's been going on, I'll feel much better if you two are safe in the plane without the three of us around. Okay?" Coulson asked.

Fitzsimmons still looked skeptical but nodded in agreement.

"May and I will be in the hotel restaurant. Skye, as soon as you see Raina, let us know and we will follow. Keep an eye on the car she is in. I do not want her out of sight. We need to find her before she takes anymore innocent people and turns them into her Centipede robots. Is that clear?"

The rest of the team nodded in confirmation.

"Good."

"Wheels down in 10. Buckle in." May stated, leaving the Command Center and making her way towards the cockpit.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, May, Coulson, Ward, and Skye were finishing up any last minute preparations and were getting ready to leave. Ward and Skye piled into the SUV and Ward backed out of the cargo hold. Ten minutes later, May and Coulson go into Lola and Coulson brought the roof of the convertible up before also pulling out of the cargo hold. He gave the signal and Fitzsimmons closed the ramp and put the Bus on lockdown before turning on everyone's comms.

"Can everyone hear me?" came Fitz's voice over the comms.

Four voices answered affirmatively and he continued speaking.

"Okay, listen carefully. I put a cloaking device on both of the vehicles. What that will do is it will basically make the car invisible."

"How did you manage to do that?" Ward asked, clearly impressed.

"Science. Anyways, that will prevent Raina from seeing you as you follow her. Along with that, if you will look in the glove compartments of each vehicle, you will find two ICERS that have been specifically modified to take out the Centipede soldiers in case any should show up." May and Skye opened the glove compartments of their respective vehicles and pulled out the two ICERS located there.

"Gotta say nerds. You've really outdone yourselves this time." Ward said teasingly.

Simmons scoffed over the comms. "I'll have you know Agent Ward, us nerds are the reason you manage to make it back from your missions in one piece. What would you do without the EMP propulsion rifle, or the HR2 grenade or …."

"Simmons, Fitz, and Ward; you three can continue your never ending Scientist vs. Specialist debate later." Coulson cut in, effectively stopping Simmons rant.

"AC's right. We're at the hotel. We'll check in and then come back on." Skye said as she and Ward turned off their comms.

* * *

At the hotel, Ward and Skye walked up to the desk like a normal couple and booked a room on the 5th floor, high enough to stall in case of an attack and low enough to escape from (basically jump out a window according to Skye).

They entered the room and Skye immediately went to work. Opening up her laptop bag and duffel, she pulled out her laptop, various wires and other devices, and worked on getting access to the hotel's and nearby cameras. Ward opened his duffel and pulled out his precious weapons. He began inspecting all of his guns, knives, and other weapons to make sure that they were ready to use at a moment's notice. Skye found it adorable at how much he loves his weapons, kind of how much she loves her computer.

In just a few minutes, Skye had managed to get access to all of the hotel's cameras and any nearby ones in order to get a visual on Raina. Turning the comms back on, they checked in with everyone.

"Guys, we're checked in and I have access to all cameras. AC, May; your turn." Skye said to everyone.

Coulson and May left Lola and walked towards the hotel's restaurant. They sat in a booth towards the back corner of the restaurant, allowing them to see who comes in and out as well being able to see who enters the hotel lobby.

Thirty minutes had passed before Skye's voice came over, saying that she spotted Raina.

"Coulson, May, Raina has just entered the hotel lobby and is making her way towards the restaurant."

"Copy that." Coulson said as he watched Raina enter the restaurant and make her way towards the side of the restaurant opposite of May and Coulson.

"Okay, now listen up. Coulson, I placed a small round device in your pocket before you left. Pull it out. It is a microphone that allows us to hear exactly what she is saying to whoever there. You have to plant that at least within 10 meters of her in order for us to hear her clearly." Coulson pulled out the microphone from his pocket and handed it to May.

May got up under the pretense to go to the bathroom and made sure to cover her face as she walked behind Raina's table. She dropped the device so discreetly that an untrained eye wouldn't have even seen her move. She quickly entered the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later. She made her way back to the table and she and Coulson quietly got up and left. The two made their way back to Lola and pulled away from the hotel and parked in another parking lot across from the hotel, allowing them to see the hotel's front entrance.

Fitz spoke over the comms. "Ok…I have audio. I'm going to patch it through to you guys." A moment later, the four agents could hear Raina speaking through their comms.

" _How do you feel? Tired, drained? We've been working on modifications of the serum to try and decrease the adverse effects it has on the host's body. Our last volunteer was close to combusting but miraculously calmed down at the last minute." said Raina._

"She's talking about Mike. She brainwashed him and if it hadn't been for you all then he would have exploded just like the others." Skye said, thoroughly pissed at Raina for making Mike seem like another one of her little lab rats. Ward squeezed her hand and it sent a warm feeling all throughout Skye's body.

" _I feel great. I've never felt this good before. I feel stronger, and so much more alive than I've ever felt. Whatever serum you gave me, it works." Another voice said admiringly._

Skye's blood ran cold. Ward froze. Coulson and May stared at each other in shock inside Lola, same with Fitzsimmons on the Bus.

Skye's voice echoed like a cannon as she broke the silence moments later.

"Miles….?"

 **AN: How'd you guys like it? Sorry about the cliffhanger but I promise I will try not to make the next update take as long as this one. I have been extremely busy with college applications, scholarship essays and schoolwork in general. I barely get enough sleep and I honestly don't have a lot of downtime on my hands anymore. I am so sorry for those of you that like my story and had to wait forever. I will try my best to update as quickly as I can. I want to give you guys nice long chapters so that also takes more time too. Thanks again and sorry! But please REVIEW, REVIEW, AND REVIEW! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hi guys! I hope you guys like that chapter! Here is Chapter 11 for you guys! Please REVIEW! I know that it has been a really long time since I updated but school has got me really busy. Exam season is starting soon so right now it's all about cramming information and learning things really fast. I'm sorry about not updating earlier and I promise I will try to get an update in as soon as possible. I hope I am able to get at least one more in before the end of the month. Sorry once again and please review! Your reviews motivate me to write!**

* * *

"Miles…?!" came Skye's voice over the comms.

For a few seconds no one spoke. Finally Ward managed to gather his thoughts

"Fitzsimmons, how did he get out of the bracelet? Isn't S.H.I.E.L.D. monitoring him 24/7?"

"That's the thing…he still has the bracelet." Fitz said. Simmons continued. "The bracelet is still reading his vitals and they are completely normal. I'm looking at all of Miles' vitals since the bracelet was put on him and there is no sign of a significant change in his pulse, blood pressure or anything."

"That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't the Extremis serum change up something in his body? Even when he was first injected with it, wouldn't it have hurt him or something?" Ward stated angrily.

"I don't know. It is supposed to cause some physiologic changes that can be quite painful but as of right now…there is nothing out of the ordinary." Simmons said, trying to figure out how all of this was possible.

Coulson intervened.

"Okay, new plan. Skye, Ward, pack up. When Miles and Raina are done, you two will follow Miles to wherever he goes. May and I will continue with the original plan and follow Raina. Ward, if you can I want you to arrest Miles and bring him back to the Bus. But be careful. If he has been injected with the Centipede serum then he will be dangerous."

"Copy that." came the prompt reply.

* * *

" _You need to be careful. The serum has been fatal at one point and while we have fixed that, it still may be triggered. You should try to not get angry that much and keep your strength up. With the extra energy in your body, your strength will drain rapidly." came Raina's voice._

" _Yeah I've noticed. Every time I do something overly strenuous, minutes later I feel like collapsing. Every night I sleep like a baby. The last time I slept like that was when Skye and I were together."_

"Ugh…gross!" Came Skye's reply. Ward clenched his fists, wanting to pound the living daylights out of Miles.

Coulson just shook his head. He looked over May's shoulder and noticed that Raina and Miles were getting ready to leave.

"They're about to leave. Are you two in position?" he asked Ward and Skye.

"Yes. We're in the SUV. Wait, we have eyes on Miles."

"Follow him and if you can, apprehend him." Coulson ordered, getting up to follow Raina with May once he heard his agents respond in agreement.

"Fitzsimmons, you two are still locked down on the Bus right?"

Simmons was quick to respond. "Yes sir. The Bus is still on complete lockdown and will remain that way until you all return."

"Good."

* * *

Ward was driving furiously through the Canadian snow, trying to keep up with Miles as he navigated through the semi-abandoned streets.

Five minutes later, Miles pulled up to an apartment building, parking in front of the entrance and heading inside.

Ward pulled into a parking spot a few spots down from Miles and turned off the car.

"Can you get any thermal reading from this building besides Miles? We need to know if there are any other Centipede soldiers here." Ward said to Skye.

Skye pulled up the thermal imaging scanner on her laptop and seconds later spoke.

"No, the only thermal signature I see is Miles'. He's alone."

"Okay. Let's go then." Ward said. He opened the glove compartment and pulled out the two modified ICERS, handing one to Skye. The two got out and made their way towards Miles' apartment building, following the thermal signature reading from Skye's phone.

"Here. This is it." Skye said, stopping in front of the third door on the right side of the hallway on the third floor, Room 3C.

"Stay behind me." Ward said, pulling Skye behind him as he got ready to kick the door down.

"WAIT!"

"What?"

"Don't kick the door down. That'll kill the element of surprise. There is no peephole (is that what the hole in a door is called? Please let me know if I'm wrong! :) ) so just ring the doorbell and shoot him as soon as he opens the door."

"Ugh…. fine. But stay there." Ward said, positioning his gun and then ringing the doorbell.

Ten seconds later, the door opened and Miles came into view.

"HEY! Wh…" Miles wasn't able to finish his sentence as the shot from the ICER knocked him out like a light, falling back landing hard on his ass.

"Come on, let's get him back to the car." Ward said, making his way into the doorway to pick up Miles' unconscious form.

"Hang on one second." Skye said. Ward looked at her curiously. Faster than light, Skye whipped out her ICER and shot Miles three times in the face. Ward looked at her, surprise lacing his features.

"He deserved it for the sleeping together comment." Skye said, shrugging nonchalantly.

Ward grinned and motioned for her to grab Miles' other arm. Together, the two of them lugged Miles' prone body down the two flights of stairs and into the trunk of the car. Ward grabbed his handcuffs and cuffed him just to be safe.

"Ugh…why are you guys so heavy? My arms hurt!" Skye complained, rubbing her arms.

"Pure muscle baby!" Ward smirked as he started the car and drove back towards the base.

* * *

While Ward and Skye were tailing Miles, Coulson and May hopped into Lola and took off after Raina.

Coulson stealthily maneuvered his precious Lola through the Canadian streets and tried to keep a safe distance between Raina and them but managed to stay close enough in order to not lose her.

About twenty minutes into the drive, Coulson slowed down and followed Raina down a path that led deep into the forest. Coulson immediately turned off Lola's headlights as he noticed the drop in light.

"Should we follow her on foot from here?" May asked.

"Let's go a little more until we can't see anything."

The pair followed Raina for another mile before Coulson quickly stopped the car, shut it off, and jumped out with May and began chasing after Raina on foot, both armed with ICERS.

Not even five minutes later, they spotted Raina's car parked in front of a large abandoned compound (think the new Avengers base at the end of Age of Ultron).

Coulson and May hid behind trees and saw Raina get out of the car and make her way inside, followed by two Centipede soldiers.

"Okay, we found their base. Now we need to get back to the Bus and come back with a strike team and take it down." May whispered to Coulson.

Coulson nodded and slowly and quietly, they made their way back to Lola.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Coulson and May entered the secure S.H.I.E.L.D. base and entered the cargo hold of the Bus. Ward and Skye had returned a while before them and had Fitzsimmons open up the Bus.

"We found Centipede's current base of operations. We need to assemble a large strike team and take it down tonight. Ward, you will go and assemble two teams with ten highly skilled, combat trained agents. May, I want you to go and make sure that the plane is ready for combat. I want all weapons hot when we reach the base and ready to fire immediately. We're going to have the plane right above the Centipede base for aerial support. Skye, I want you to figure out the layout of the building. You will be our eyes in there. Fitzsimmons, I want you to make sure that there are enough modified Night Night Guns to go around. Understood?" He was answered with five nods. "Good. Get ready. We leave as soon as everyone is ready."

Skye quickly spoke up before everyone dispersed. "Wait…what about Miles?"

"We'll deal with him after we take down the base. Besides, he probably doesn't know much about the base and it will take him quite a while to wake up since you shot him in the face with an ICER three times." Coulson said, looking pointedly at Skye.

"Well he deserved it." She said before making her way out, followed by everyone else.

* * *

Three hours later, well past midnight, everyone was ready. Everyone including the two S.H.I.E.L.D. strike teams were assembled in the Command Center going over the final details of the strike on the Centipede base.

"Let's go over this one last time. Ward, you and I will lead the strike teams into the base. You will go around the back and enter from there, I will go in through the front. May, you will be in the air and will provide aerial support. If any Centipede soldiers come out, you take them out. Fitzsimmons have modified the automated weapons on the wings of the Bus to shoot like the redesigned ICERS. Therefore, you will only knock them out, not kill them. Skye and Fitz, you will be the eyes here. Skye, you will lead Ward's team through the base while Fitz will lead out team. It will be dark so you will have to use thermal detection to see how many Centipede soldiers we encounter at every turn. From what we've gathered, the serum has changed and they are much harder to take down now. If a soldier throws a punch, it will hurt… a lot. Shoot as many as you can and avoid getting physical with them. Simmons, you will monitor the comms and stay in contact with Ward and I and keep the med bay prepped in case of any injuries. Any questions?" Coulson stated, looking at each member of his team and the 10 strike team agents. Not receiving an answer, Coulson nodded.

"Alright, let's move."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, May dropped Coulson, Ward, and the strike team off about 5 miles away from the base.

Fitzsimmons and Skye watched the strike team pile into the two S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV's. Coulson and Ward finished suiting up and made their way towards the cargo bay. Skye quickly grabbed Ward's hand and pulled him into a kiss.

"Be careful okay?" She whispered.

"I will." Ward whispered back before giving her a quick kiss and a dazzling smile. He made his way over to the SUV and got in. Seconds later, he pulled out followed by Coulson. The three younger agents made their way into the lab and got to work. Skye and Fitz pulled up the layout of the building and Simmons switched on everyone's comms. Skye and Fitz were only on comms with the team they were guiding to prevent confusion of directions while Simmons was on with the whole team including May in the cockpit to keep her in the loop.

Less than five minutes later, Coulson and Ward were in position.

"Ward, are you in position?"

"Yes sir. Waiting for the signal."

"May?"

"Ready when you are."

"Skye, Fitz, Simmons?"

"Ready."

"Okay…in three, two,…..ONE!"

At that moment, Coulson and Ward drove through both the woods in which they were hiding and pulled straight up the compound. Jumping out of the car, weapons hot, they made their way inside from both sides.

* * *

(Anything in italics is what everyone is saying to each other over the comms.)

" _Skye, talk to me. Where am I going?" Ward's voice came over the comms into Skye's ear._

" _Ahead 100 yards. Two Centipede soldiers on both sides."_

Ward and the five strike team agents quickly moved forward and swiftly incapacitated the soldiers standing guard.

" _Now take the second staircase on your left. It should lead you up to another dozen or so soldiers."_

Ward quickly followed Skye's directions and made his way up the stairs. Getting to the door, he silently counted down while two agents positioned themselves in order to shoot soldiers from opposite sides. (One agent was crouched down on the left with his gun pointed to the right and the other was standing on the right with his gun pointing left to quickly eliminate the soldiers by catching them off guard. They are using ICERs.) Ward threw the door open and the two agents open fired.

On the other side of the compound, Coulson was immediately engaged by almost two dozen soldiers as soon as he and his team entered.

" _Coulson, you have about two dozen soldiers in front of you." Fitz said over the comms._

" _Yeah thanks for the heads up!" Coulson shouted over the gunfire, sarcasm dripping from every word._

The strike team and Coulson immediately took cover behind some columns and were trying to take out the soldiers. Every time they took out a Centipede soldier, another one seemed to take its place. That was until the windows near the top of the building shattered and rapid shooting filled the air. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents covered their heads and looked up when it got quiet. All of the Centipede soldiers were unconscious on the ground and the Bus could be seen from the now open windows.

" _The Cavalry's always on time." Coulson said over the comms._

 _Up in the cockpit of the Bus, May's cheeks turned a deep red. "Don't call me that."_

 _May could hear the smile in Coulson's voice as he asked Fitz where to head next._

" _Okay…well if you keep going forwards about 30 meters, you should encounter a corridor to your left. There are about 4-5 soldiers keeping guard over there. No…wait….they're making their way towards you. Heads up!"_

Coulson turned as five Centipede soldiers made their way towards them.

He let out a growl and took cover. At this rate, they'll never make it past the ground floor.

On the other side of the building, Ward was doing slightly better; only slightly. He and his strike team had managed to make their way towards the upper levels of the building when Skye told them there were several Centipede soldiers making their way down the stairs that they were going up. Quickly loading up their ICERs, they fired as soon as they heard the thundering of footsteps get closer.

The six agents (Ward plus the five strike team agents) continued firing nonstop at the Centipede soldiers for a couple of minutes before Ward saw a door out of the corner of his eye.

"Door…10 o'clock." He shouted, slowly making his way towards the door, the five other agents following him, still shooting at the oncoming super soldiers. Ward threw the door open and entered the hallway. Just then, four other Centipede soldiers appeared at the end of the hallway and started shooting. Ward and two other agents managed to get across the hall and slipped into an opening in the wall and fired back at the soldiers. The remaining two agents stood in the doorway and were firing at the Centipede soldiers on the stairs.

Ward kept shooting, taking out two of the soldiers when a bullet grazed his arm and made him hiss in pain.

" _Damn…May, I could really use some help here." He said through the comms._

" _I have a clear view through the side of the window of the guys on the stairs. Get down."_

"Get down!" Ward shouted to the other agents. They ducked and seconds later, the glass exploded, raining shards down on them. Like flies, the Centipede soldiers began dropping and 10 seconds later, it was finally quiet.

" _You sure took your time."_

" _You're in one piece aren't you?" came the Cavalry's reply._

Coulson managed to get to the top floor of the building without too much fuss. He could here distant gunfire, which he assumed was Ward and his team. He and his team had encountered about another two-dozen soldiers before they made it upstairs towards the labs.

Coming up a stairwell, they made it to the top floor and saw the word "Laboratory" on a door. Coulson and another agent stood to one side of the door, ready to fire. Two other agents positioned themselves in the same way on the other side. The remaining two agents stood at an angle in front of the door and the one on the right got out a 'real' gun (remember they are using ICERs so they don't kill the Centipede soldiers) and shot the lock off. Coulson kicked the door open and slowly entered, flanked on both sides and from the back by the other five agents.

" _Fitz, are there any Centipede soldiers on this level?"_

" _What floor are you on?"_

" _The top one."_

" _Ummm…there are no thermal readings indicating the presence of the Centipede soldiers."_

" _So no?"_

" _No. There are no soldiers there."_

" _Well why didn't you just say that!" Coulson said, exasperated._

Coulson and his team continued through the lab, surprised at the emptiness of it.

" _Fitz, patch me through to Ward."_

A second later Ward's voice came through over the comms.

" _Everything okay on your end sir?"_

" _Yeah. We reached the top floor with all the labs and it's completely abandoned."_

" _We just entered the labs. We're making our way over to you now."_

Coulson and the other five agents kept watch and a few moments later, they caught sight of Ward and the five agents with him.

Slowly and steadily, keeping their eyes peeled and weapons ready, the Coulson and his agents made their way over towards Ward. Ward and his agents spread and kept their eyes open, two agents watching from each side, two watching the staircase and door they came from, and Ward and the remaining agent keeping watch towards the front and making sure Coulson and his agents weren't sneaked upon on.

"What happened? Where is everyone?" Ward asked when Coulson finally made his way over.

"The whole lab area is deserted. It doesn't make any sense. Where would they have gone? It almost like…"

"…they were expecting us." Ward finished.

" _Guys…you need to get out of there. Thermal readings show Centipede soldiers moving about and they're making their way upstairs. Take the back entrance. The soldiers in the back are still down. Hurry!"_ came Skye's frantic voice over the comms. Ward and Coulson looked at each other for a moment before bolting towards the stairs in the back leading downstairs, followed by the strike team.

Taking the stairs two and three at a time, the group made it to the second to last floor where they were met with a not so pleasant surprise. Just as Coulson was about to open the door to the ground floor, it burst open and two Centipede soldiers burst in. The one closest to Coulson thrust a fist into his chest and sent him flying towards the wall where he slumped down in an unconscious heap.

"COULSON!" Ward yelled. He and the others shot at the Centipede soldiers and quickly made their way towards Coulson.

" _Ward…what happened?" Fitz said frantically._

" _AC...? Grant…? Someone say something!" Skye cried._

" _Coulson's down. One of the Centipede soldiers punched him and threw him into the wall. Have Simmons prep medical. We're on our way out." Ward said quickly._

Ward and another agent grabbed Coulson and followed three agents out the door. The remaining agents surrounded them from the sides and back as they made their way out towards the Bus that was waiting in the shadows. May had landed the plane as soon as she heard Ward cry out over the comms.

* * *

Ward and the other agent stumbled onto the cargo ramp, Coulson wedged between them. Going quickly to the medical bay that Simmons had set up, they set Coulson down on the makeshift bed and backed up, letting Simmons do her thing, along with some help from Fitz. Skye made her way over to him and hugged him tightly. Ward pressed a kiss on the top of her head and nuzzled his face in her hair. Skye ran her hand over her boyfriend's chiseled arms and frowned when she felt something wet and warm soak her arm. Pulling back from the hug, she nearly screamed when she saw the blood on her hand.

"You're bleeding!" Skye screeched.

"Relax. It's only a scratch. Besides, Coulson needs to be treated first right now. I can wait." Ward said calmly.

Skye sighed but nodded. Turning towards the closed lab doors, she looked at Coulson's unconscious figure through the transparent glass and tears welled up in her eyes. She's always seen him as a sort of father figure and she didn't know what she would do if something happened to him.

* * *

May had set the coordinates for the S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Canada and after making sure that everything was proper, she set the plane on autopilot and quickly made her way downstairs.

" _God Phil, I swear I will kill you myself if you die." With that thought in mind, May quickly made her way downstairs, stopping in front of the lab doors where Fitzsimmons were fixing up Coulson._

May felt her heart stop when she saw Skye's tear-stained face.

" _No…it can't be. Phil's fine! He has to be."_

Ward felt May's presence as she came down the stairs and saw a look of horror on her face. He quickly realized that she probably mistook Skye's crying for something much worse than what is actually happening. Quickly making eye contact with May he shook his head and gave her a thumbs up, signaling that everything was okay…for now.

May saw Ward's sign and let out a sigh of relief. Making her way over to the couple, she noticed that the other agents were sitting on the seats on the side of the plane, staying out of the way of the little family. Nodding at them, she came to a stop next to Skye and Ward and watched as Fitzsimmons worked on Phil.

"Please Phil…you have to be okay." She whispered. Skye looked at her and squeezed her hand gently in response, giving her a watery smile.

"He'll be okay. You'll see." She said.

May gave a small smile and prayed that she was right.

* * *

 **AN: Well, I hope you guys liked it! Once again, please review! Also I will try to update again as soon as possible. :) :) :)  
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	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hi guys! Here is chapter 12 for you all! I know I promised you all a chapter before the end of April but I got really busy with school and exams are here now so I have been stressing about those. I am so sorry for the late update and I hope this chapter makes up for my delayed update. Once again, PLEASE REVIEW! :)**

 **Warning: Adult Content!**

* * *

Fitzsimmons were hustling around the lab like mice whilst Coulson remained unconscious on the bed.

"Fitz, I need the X-ray machine from the back. Just from looking, I am fairly certain Agent Coulson has some broken ribs and more than likely a concussion. Maybe a bruised back from hitting the wall." Simmons said as she quickly took off Coulson's vest and shirt. She placed three little probes on Coulson's chest; similar to the ones she had put on Ward in order to check his vitals after the Berserker staff incident.

Fitz rushed in with the X-ray machine from the storage unit and quickly set it up.

Simmons quickly got it prepped and within minutes came up with a diagnosis.

"Fitz, he has several broken ribs and a mild concussion. Here, help me tape his ribs." She said, going to get the tape to bind Coulson's ribs.

Between the two of them, Coulson's ribs were wrapped nicely and after giving Coulson's head a quick scan, the scientists were glad to see that he had no bleeding in his brain.

* * *

After patching up his ribs, Fitzsimmons cleaned up around the lab and were about to go out to the others when Simmons' tablet that was reading Coulson's vitals started beeping. Rushing over she gasped in shock.

"Fitz, Coulson's oxygen saturations are decreasing. Get a mask on him now!" Fitz hurried and covered Coulson's face with an oxygen mask while Simmons checked the rest of his vitals.

While Fitz was adjusting the mask, Coulson briefly woke up and began coughing and was having a hard time breathing.

"Coulson, you need to calm down. Try to take slow breaths." Fitz said calmly. Coulson continued to get worked up and Fitz couldn't get him to calm down.

"Simmons, a little help here!"

Simmons rushed over to a cabinet and pulled out a small vial and needle. Quickly measuring out a tiny dosage, she made her way over to Coulson, who was being held down by Fitz, and plunged the needle into his arm. Coulson's movements slowly became more sluggish and just before he blacked out, he heard Simmons' voice.

"I'm terribly sorry sir. You were just hurting yourself more so I gave you a small sedative to put you to sleep for a little while." Simmons said quickly. Coulson gave a small nod and his eyes closed, falling asleep.

* * *

The trio was anxiously waiting outside for Fitzsimmons to finish up and were getting more worried as time went on.

Finally after what seemed like forever, which was really just five minutes, Fitz came outside and looked at May.

"May, you need to get this plane back to base as fast as you can. Coulson needs medical attention fast. Simmons is doing everything she can to keep him stable until then."

May nodded and rushed off towards the cockpit.

Fitz was about to go inside when Skye stopped him.

"Wait, what's wrong with AC? Is he going to be okay?" Skye asked worriedly.

Fitz tried to give her a reassuring smile but failed miserably.

"As of right now, the only thing Simmons has established is that he is having trouble breathing which most likely means he punctured a lung. He woke up briefly and was getting worked up so she had to sedate him. Once we get him to a proper physician, we'll know more." Fitz said, squeezing Skye's shoulder gently before making his way back into the lab.

May's voice came over the intercom. "Wheels down in five."

* * *

Five minutes later, May landed the plane and as soon as the cargo hold was down, a group of medics came and strapped Coulson to the stretcher and rushed out. The rest of the team followed hot on their heels.

The group came to a stop in front of the OR and were forced to wait outside as the medics took Coulson into surgery.

The group waited anxiously for news on Coulson. Skye and May positioned themselves near the door; Fitzsimmons sat down in the hard plastic chairs next to Skye and Ward paced up and down the corridor, unable to keep still.

Close to two hours passed before a doctor finally emerged.

"How is he? Is AC okay? Will Coulson be okay? Why aren't you saying something?" the doctor was met with a bunch of questions and raised both hands, gesturing the group to calm down before speaking.

"First, Agent Coulson is doing fine now. As you know, he had blunt force trauma to the chest and that caused three of his ribs to break, one of them puncturing a lung. The punctured lung created an air pocket in his pleural cavity and that resulted in a pneumothorax. We used a needle to extract the excess air and patched his lung back up together. He will need to be on oxygen for the next 12 hours as a precaution and after that, we will monitor him for another 24 hours to make sure his lung is healing properly and then if everything is fine, we will release him. However, he will need to rest for approximately two weeks, avoiding any strenuous activity before he is back to his normal self." The doctor took a breath after speaking and looked at the various happy expressions in front of him.

Skye impulsively hugged May, who was shocked at first but returned the hug. Fitzsimmons hugged each other in relief and Ward released a heavy sigh of relief and plopped down on a chair next to Fitz.

Releasing May, Skye turned back to the doctor. "Can we see him?"

The doctor smiled. "We will be moving him into recovery in about an hour and then you will be able to visit him." The doctor said before leaving.

* * *

An hour later, everyone was situated outside of Coulson's room, waiting for the doctors and nurses to finish settling him. Ward had gotten his arm stitched up from his bullet graze and everyone was anxious to see that their boss was alright.

The doctor emerged from the room minutes later.

"Ok, you can go see him now. He is still unconscious from the anesthesia but he should wake up within the next few hours. Also please, try to keep the noise level down." He had barely finished before Skye shoved him out of the way and entered Coulson's room, followed by the rest of the team. The doctor looked at the group for a moment before smiling slightly and shaking his head, made his way down the corridor.

The group entered the room to see Coulson asleep on the bed, an oxygen mask covering his face to help him breathe as his lungs healed. Skye made her way over to his side and grasped his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Hey AC… god you scared us all. But you're okay now. And you better stay that way okay?" Skye whispered to him. Grant stood behind her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. He knew that Skye saw Coulson as the father figure she never had and seeing Coulson like this must have been hard on her. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed May make her way to Coulson's other side and watched as she grabbed his hand and saw a tear leak out of the corner of her eye. Grant fought back a smirk. _"They so have a thing going on."_

Fitzsimmons hustled around and checked through all of the machines that were taking Coulson's vitals and made sure that everything was alright.

* * *

Two hours had passed this way. Skye and May refused to leave Coulson's side, Fitzsimmons decided to go down to the cafeteria to get some food for everyone and Ward was passed out on the couch. His arm still ached and everything had finally caught up to him. Ten minutes ago, Skye had noticed Ward asleep and smiled. _"He is so cute when he is sleeping." She thought as she covered him with a blanket._

Skye was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt something squeeze her hand. Her eyes shot to Coulson's face and she watched with bated breath as his eyes slowly flickered open. She quickly glanced at May and saw that she had a similar expression on her face.

May spoke before Skye had the chance to. "Phil? Come on… open those eyes for me. Please?" Both women watched as Coulson slowly opened his eyes and blinked rapidly, adjusting to the bright light. His gaze shifted to May and then to Skye and back to May as he gave a soft smile.

"Guess I didn't die." Coulson said chuckling softly.

"God Phil…that is not funny. You do something like that again and I will kick your ass." May said firmly.

"Seriously AC. You scared us all to death. You better not do anything like that again." Skye said, tears welling up in her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Coulson gently squeezed her hand, grabbing her attention again.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." He said softly. He honestly hated himself for worrying his team so much. They weren't just his team…they were his little dysfunctional family. He and May went way back and are finally re-establishing their relationship, albeit a bit slowly. Skye, Ward, and Fitzsimmons were like the kids he never had, especially Skye. He didn't know if it was because of the fact that she had never had a family to call her own or the fact that every time Coulson imagined himself having a daughter, he immediately imagined Skye. She had become the daughter to him that he had always wanted but never had.

Coulson was pulled out of his thoughts by May giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Hey…you should try to get some rest. You need to regain your strength." She said, smiling softly.

Coulson nodded as he felt his eyes droop. He squeezed May's hand once and whispered. "Stay?"

May smiled and nodded. "I'm not going anywhere." Coulson gave a small smile as he fell back asleep.

An hour had passed since Coulson had fallen asleep and it was clear that he wasn't going to be waking up until morning.

* * *

May looked at her watch and saw that it was past five in the morning. She looked over to the rest of her team and saw that everyone was on the verge of falling asleep. Ward had woken up soon after Coulson fell asleep and was about to fall over. Skye was leaning against Coulson's bed trying to keep her eyes up and Fitzsimmons were zonked out on the couch previously occupied by Ward.

"You all should head back to the Bus and get some sleep."

Skye jumped at her voice. "What if AC wakes up again?"

"Skye, Coulson's going to be asleep for the next several hours. You all are tired and need to get some rest. I'll stay here with Coulson and you all go get some rest. Once you all have gotten some sleep, eaten, and showered, you can come back. Understood?" May had started out speaking in a soft tone but ended using her "Cavalry" tone.

Skye sighed, knowing she wasn't going to win this. She looked at Ward and Fitzsimmons and saw that they were just as tired as her. Getting up she nodded at May and after shaking the other three awake, they made their way out of Coulson's room and to the Bus.

* * *

Back on the Bus, Fitzsimmons retired to their bunks while Ward and Skye made their way over to Skye's bunk. Half asleep, Ward took off his shirt and pants and threw them in the corner, too tired to put them away and grabbed his black pajama pants that were sitting on the corner of the bed and slipped them on. After sluggishly pulling on his pants, he crashed onto the bed and scooted against the wall and leaned on his side, waiting for Skye to come to bed.

Skye was slightly more alert than her counterpart, only slightly. She made her way to the bathroom and went through her usual nighttime routine before slipping into her pajamas and making her way back into her bunk and into bed with Ward who was already snoring. Skye shook her head and smiled fondly before giving him a kiss on the lips and snuggling up in his arms. His arms automatically tightened around her and pulled her to him. Skye let out a breath and slowly fell asleep.

Less than two hours later, Skye's eyes snapped open, her body trembling from a horrifying nightmare. She quickly looked over to Ward and saw that he was still asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, Skye slowly slid out from underneath her slumbering boyfriend and quickly put a pillow in place, smiling slightly when he immediately snuggled it to himself. Skye quietly grabbed her phone and opened her bunk door and slid outside.

Sitting at the breakfast bar, Skye gathered her senses and finally managed to calm her nerves. She got up, grabbed a glass of milk, heated it up in the microwave and added a spoon of chocolate syrup in it. She took a sip and sighed heavily. She looked over at her phone and silently debated on whether she should make the call or not. Giving in, she grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts before getting to the number she wanted. The phone rang once before Skye heard a quiet yet firm "Skye? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah May, everything's fine. How's AC?" Skye said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"He's fine Skye. Why are you still up?" May asked, worry creeping into her voice.

Skye took a breath before speaking again. "I had a bad dream. I just needed to make sure that AC really is okay."

"Skye, I promise Coulson is fine. The doctor came in and checked on him a while after you all left and said that he will recover completely. He will be fine okay?" May said, her voice significantly softer than usual.

"I believe you. I really do. It's just…my dream felt so real." Skye said softly.

May was about to respond when Coulson started to wake up. He opened his eyes and looked at her curiously. 'Skye' she mouthed.

"Skye, Coulson's awake. Do you want to talk to him?" May spoke into the phone softly.

"Yeah." Came the timid reply.

Coulson looked at her confused. Covering the mouthpiece with her palm, May quickly explained the situation and Coulson nodded. May handed him the phone and Coulson spoke quietly.

"Hey Skye? Why are you still awake?"

Coulson swore he heard a stifled sob on the other side.

"I just had a bad dream. It's stupid I know but I just really needed to make sure you were okay. I'm sorry if I woke you up." Her voice cracked slightly at the end.

"Skye, I'm fine. The doctor already said so and I am being released tomorrow too."

"I know I know. I just… you almost died… and I dreamt… it just felt so real… I thought you weren't coming back." Coulson heard a stifled sob over the phone and his heart ached. He understood the pain Skye was feeling. She looked at the whole team as her family. He and Skye were particularly close (Ward didn't count) practically a father and daughter. He knew today must have been hard on her.

"Hey kiddo, listen to me. I'm okay and I will stay that way okay? Now I want you to go to sleep because I expect you back here with my clothes and coffee tomorrow. Understood? I don't even want to try this hospital's excuse for coffee. It looks like mud. And I miss my suit." Skye smiled to herself, happy to know that her boss was already getting back to normal.

Sniffling slightly, she spoke "You got it AC."

"Goodnight Skye." Coulson and May spoke simultaneously.

"Night AC. Night May." Skye said before hanging up the phone.

* * *

Skye let out a heavy sigh after hanging up the phone. She sat at the breakfast bar and continued sipping her now cool chocolate milk. Talking to Coulson made her feel better but she still couldn't go back to sleep. She was afraid to go back to sleep and see another one of her teammates, her family, die. Skye was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear Grant come up behind her and place his hands gently on her shoulders. Skye jumped in her seat as Grant's hands met her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Grant said softly.

Skye sighed before turning around and burying her face in his chest. Grant didn't hesitate in wrapping his own arms around her. Neither said anything, simply found comfort in each other. Awhile later, Skye pulled away from the embrace and began telling Grant about her dream.

Grant pulled her back to his chest as she finished and started crying afterwards. He held her tightly to himself and slowly rocked her back and forth, trying to offer as much comfort as he could.

After Skye had cried herself dry, she pulled away from Grant and grabbed her empty glass of milk and went to the sink. Grant sat down in the seat previously occupied by Skye and watched as she cleaned up in the kitchen and made her way back to him.

"Ready to sleep?" he asked pulling her to him. Skye smiled back at him. She absolutely loved this man. He has been there for her through everything that has happened recently and more. She honestly felt blessed to finally have one amazing thing in her life. Now it was her turn to show him just how much she loved him.

Skye smirked, running her hands down his chest. "I have a better idea. Let's have some fun." Grant looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?" Skye inwardly groaned. _"God, she loved him but he was just so dense sometimes."_ Instead of replying, she pulled him back to their bunk and closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, Skye launched herself at him and crushed her lips against his. Grant was caught off guard for a moment but pulled himself together and kissed her back with just as much enthusiasm. Skye's arms moved from around his neck to gripping his hair and finally pulling off his shirt. Grant's arms tightened around her waist as he lifted her up, allowing Skye to wrap her legs around his waist. Gently depositing Skye on the bed, Grant was in for a surprise when he found himself not above Skye but underneath Skye. She had managed to flip them both, with her on top, their locked lips never leaving each other. Slowly, Skye moved her hands down to Grant's pajama bottoms and started pulling them down. This broke Grant out of his dazed state and grabbed her hands.

"Skye, I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable…" Skye quickly interrupted him. "Shut up. You're not forcing me to do something I don't want to."

"But…"

Skye silenced him with her lips meeting his and her hands moving up and down his chest.

"I want this." She whispered before pulling her shirt off and taking off Grant's pajamas.

Grant grinned wolfishly and quickly got rid of Skye's bra and she shimmied out of her bottoms. Skye pulled down Grant's boxers and Grant nearly ripped off Skye's panties. Both now completely naked, this was a night that neither would ever forget.

* * *

Jemma had woken up briefly when she heard Skye and Ward talking outside. After hearing them quiet down, she assumed they had returned to bed and began to drift off to sleep. Just as she was about to fall back asleep, a deep moan could be heard through the wall of her bunk. Jerking up and looking at the wall rather uncomfortably, she sat there for a minute, thinking that she had probably imagined it. Settling back down in bed, Jemma had just closed her eyes when she heard a muffled scream and Skye say the words 'harder' and 'faster' while seeming winded. Eyes wide, Jemma quickly shook her head and decided that if she really wanted some sleep, it wasn't going to be in her bunk tonight. Grabbing her pillow and Doctor Who duvet, she made her way out of her bunk and next door to Fitz's bunk. Not bothering to knock, Jemma slid the door open, knowing that Fitz always has his door unlocked. She made her way to the bed where Fitz was sleeping soundly; his arms and legs sprawled all over the bed. Smiling fondly at her partner, she shook him awake. Fitz groaned and rolled over before mumbling something that sounded like "No monkey you're by best friend." Jemma sighed and shook him harder. Fitz jerked awake. He looked around wildly, arm raised to punch someone when he saw Jemma.

"Jem…what are you doing here?"

"Oh well you see Fitz…I was sleeping in my bunk but then I heard Skye and Ward doing…well you know…that… and they were quite loud…so I was wondering ificouldsleepwithyoutonightifthatwasokay." She said that last part so quickly Fitz didn't even hear it.

"Huh?"

"Is it okay if I sleep in here with you?" Jemma asked shyly.

Fitz looked at her surprised for a moment before giving her a smile and scooting over to make room for her. Jemma quickly squeezed in next to Fitz and pressed her back to his chest. Pulling her blanket over her, she whispered a good night to Fitz and gave him a kiss on his cheek before facing forwards and slowly nodding off to sleep. Fitz looked down at the brunette in his arms and smiled. He gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head and soon fell back asleep too.

* * *

 **AN: Hope you guys liked this! I'm really sorry about this late update and will promise to start updating regularly during summer break. Btw, how did you guys like the cute little Fitzsimmons moment? Once again, please, please, PLEASE REVIEW! :)**


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